RPGWatch - GotY 2015 Awards - Best RPG

[daveyd]

Nothing wrong with Pillars of Eternity as it was my second choice on both polls.

Glad to see Witcher III won also as I was worried Underrail, or Age of Decadence would win based on the amount of replies picking both on the voting thread this month.

Why would that worry you Couch? AoD is a great RPG. I assume Underrail is too (but haven't played it yet).

Out of 2015 RPGs I've played, I think TW3 would be my number 4 after AoD, SR: HK, and LoE.

 

[sakichop]

For all games in fact, the best in the last five years at least…Soma, Ori, Vermintide, Rocket League are all at the top of their class. And success of Undertale could encourage some talented people in making some great indie titles in the future.

Vermintide. I've been looking at that for some co-op with my son. It's good you say?

 

[utergatuk]

It's actually understandable considering how many graphics whores and Voice acting-loving novice gamers you have on these boards mate …

I cut my teeth on Rogue. I am just glad we are no longer killing capitalized letters.

 

[Couchpotato]

Why would that worry you Couch? AoD is a great RPG. I assume Underrail is too (but haven't played it yet).

Out of 2015 RPGs I've played, I think TW3 would be my number 4 after AoD, SR: HK, and LoE.

It's simple daveyd I didn't pick any of those games as my favorites.

2015

1. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
2. Pillars of Eternity
3. Fallout 4

2016

1. Torment: Tides of Numenera
2. Kingdom Come: Deliverance
3. Deus Ex Mankind Divided

Also I don't care if some vocal members think Fallout 4 wasn't good enough to win. As it was a very hard year to decide, but I chose what I enjoyed playing more.

 

[daveyd]

It's simple daveyd I didn't pick any of those games as my favorites.

Oh alright, I just read too much into "worried" as I thought that implied you thought they were terrible RPGs.

I am disappointed that FO4 did so well here, but not terribly surprised. It had a huge advantage in that it is extremely well known / heavily marketed game so it was more likely to be played by most of the voters than the indies. I also didn't see the appeal of Pillars of Eternity as I found the combat alternated between tedious and frustrating… and it's such a combat heavy game, but I intend to give it another chance someday.

But I would only say I was "worried" if some action game with very light RPG elements won…

 

[BoboTheMighty]

Vermintide. I've been looking at that for some co-op with my son. It's good you say?

Pure hack&slash fun. You could play it for hours and not notice time go by.

 

[sakichop]

Pure hack&slash fun. You could play it for hours and not notice time go by.

Thx, Bobo.

 

[wolfgrimdark]

I'm glad FO4 did so well here since it is such a great game. Seems like it is sometimes penalized simply because it isn't Indie.

I could care less if a game is Indie or AAA or whatever. I vote on games because I enjoy playing them and nothing else.

I don't play games because I think they are works of art, social statements, innovative, cliche, or even because I think they deserve support or don't deserve support.

They are games for recreation and fun and the fun factor pretty much is the only rating I have ever cared about.

 

[Stingray]

I'm one of those people who thinks Fallout 4 is very mediocre (especially when looking at it as an RPG and not just a game in general), and I can assure you it has absolutely nothing to do with it being "non Indie"....no clue where you came up with that theory.

 

[wolfgrimdark]

I'm one of those people who thinks Fallout 4 is very mediocre (especially when looking at it as an RPG and not just a game in general), and I can assure you it has absolutely nothing to do with it being "non Indie"….no clue where you came up with that theory.

Oh I wouldn't go as far as to call it theory - it has no backing with anything scientific nor does it have any statistical data even. Nor did I mean to imply that everyone who didn't like it didn't like it because it wasn't an Indie game. "More often" was a bad word choice on my part so I went back and edited it based on your feedback to "some times" which is perhaps less reactionary and more fair sounding.

As to why I feel that way? Just a general feeling I got from posts I have read over time that suggest some members, who perhaps because they are so vocal tends to distort the impression I got, tend to rant against many (but not all) games that are not classics or are not Indie games.

Of course those people may just like those style of games that Indie games often make or just dislike big companies in general - that is fine and wonderful. It is more when the posts cross the line over into stating opinions as if they were facts in regards to what makes a game a good/great game or a "true" RPG game.

Anyhow it is because of posts like that, that I got the impression that some AAA games are somewhat "prejudged" in a negative light, by some people, much like how people tend to prejudge anything in life (i.e. I might prejudge a news article I hear from a "new age/spiritual" website or organization as being somewhat unscientific even before I read it and consequently it may have to work extra hard to prove it is factual for me to take it more seriously).

Ah well that is a bit off-topic. I was mainly providing some positive feedback on some of the games that got best game award and how I went about voting for games and what my criteria is.

 

[Stingray]

I think you've made a false correlation - yeah, a lot of people do talk bad about most all AAA RPGs, but it's not because they're AAA, it's actually the games themselves they don't like. And the reason for that is that nobody is making AAA RPGs these days that are anything other than action RPGs and/or "hiking simulators" (that seems to be the preferred term for what Bethesda makes…) The closest we have to a AAA classic RPG (classic meaning non-action) today is probably XCOM, which is sad.

 

[Swann]

Prejudices are not necessarily false. Not touching boiling water is a good prejudice. A false prejudice only happens when you link in your mind a feature with other feature that are not linked in real world. For instance, in real world there is no link between the hair style of developers and game features. But in real world, the fact that a game is made by a big company is very likely linked to some of the game features. There are people with usually correct prejudices against indie games (obsolete GFX, bad acting…) And there are people with usually correct prejudices against AAA games (overpriced, no feedback with devs, hardware demanding…)
I have strong prejudices about AAA games. And that works fine for me.

BTW: None of the games I voted are in the top ten…

 

[Myrthos]

Myrthos,

How about our 2016 votes ?

I was planning to do that Friday, but wasn't able to. So it will be Monday probably.

 

[utergatuk]

There are people with usually correct prejudices against indie games (obsolete GFX, bad acting…) And there are people with usually correct prejudices against AAA games (overpriced, no feedback with devs, hardware demanding…)
I have strong prejudices about AAA games. And that works fine for me.

BTW: None of the games I voted are in the top ten…

I think those prejudices are getting a little eschewed from reality nowadays. With many of the AAA (obsidian) producing crowdfunded games, the devs are getting more feedback from backers, and are not publishing through mega-publishers like EA which further hamstrings the devs content. I think these devs are making the content THEY want to make tempered with backer feedback (plentiful with crowdfunding), while "indie" groups are trying to making what the PLAYERS want (see Grim Dawn) while sacrificing more of their own input. This is different from the AAA devs making what the publishers want, which WAS the rule. For that reason, I think SOME of the old prejudices skew reality.

Big budget should not necessarily mean crappy game. There is no reason that theorem should have to be the case with the crowdfunding model which limits dev influence to themselves and their backers…the same group that influences indie games.

Now pricing and demading on the hardware… well that is getting nitpicky, imo.

 

[rjshae]

With many of the AAA (obsidian) producing crowdfunded games, the devs are getting more feedback from backers, and are not publishing through mega-publishers like EA which further hamstrings the devs content.

When did Obsidian become a AAA company? It frequently sounds like they are barely surviving.

 

[forgottenlor]

It just goes to show those that vocally denounce certain games on almost every thread are just a small minority. They can complain and insult all they like, but it doesn't spoil anyone else's enjoyment of some good games.

 

[azarhal]

When did Obsidian become a AAA company? It frequently sounds like they are barely surviving.

Most AAA games are made by companies that are barely surviving, all the money in gaming is in the pocket of publishers, not the contracted development studios.

 

[utergatuk]

When did Obsidian become a AAA company? It frequently sounds like they are barely surviving.

Agreeing with what was said about the devs being slaves to publishers... but also suggesting any company that has more than 1 developer in its stable (InXile) then I would call that AAA. And technically, it is budget based, so they've put out multimillion dollar games, so yeah, AAA.

But, I understand where you are coming from totally. I was actually thinking a little bit about that too. But I would rather see top devs doing crowdfunding as long as it is financially viable, and hoping this is preferred by them too.

 

[luj1]

I'm glad FO4 did so well here since it is such a great game bad console port.
Seems like it is sometimes penalized simply because it isn't Indie its a half-done joke of a product

Fixed that for you

I don't play games because I think they are works of art, social statements, innovative,

Well then that's a (truly) sad choice you've made. I guess you don't watch movies for artistic values either, or go in the theatre, because they are not art, they are just for entertainment of the masses right?

Hhaha give this man gladiator games, you're the ideal American consumer!

and the fun factor pretty much is the only rating I have ever cared about.

No one is going to stop you, if you desire to grind your brain into a mush by playing Angry Birds or Call of Duty

But unless you want to sound clueless and misinformed don't call a FO4 a "masterpiece" or a "good game" , because its a half-finished product with copy-pasted generic world, rofl

It will be a good game when it gets sufficiently fan-modded. Beth is just there to cash in

 

[Stingray]

When did Obsidian become a AAA company? It frequently sounds like they are barely surviving.

Well they used to make AAA games, but not lately. Perhaps they will again.