RPGWatch - Shortlisting the GOTY

We need some help in shortlisting the RPGWatch Game of the Year contenders. I extracted the information from our database and put it here as is, unfiltered. There are far too many games in the list in my opinion, so I would like to shortlist this into something that can be managed better. The question for you is, which games should be in and which games should be removed.

So, I don't want to know what game released in 2018, you think is the best, but what games should be in the list (or should be removed).

The most anticipated list is as accurate as a drunken leprechaun throwing darts, so for that list I would like to not only know if games should be removed, but also what games should be added.

The lists can be found in the first comment to this post.

More information.

The games released in 2018:

Title	Date	Genre	News Posts	Comments	Average
Pathfinder: Kingmaker	2018-09-25	RPG	83	3026	36
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire	2018-05-08	RPG	107	2635	25
The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep	2018-09-18	Dungeon Crawler	92	2436	26
Kingdom Come: Deliverance	2018-02-13	Action-RPG	235	2040	9
Underworld Ascendant	2018-11-15	RPG	120	1198	10
Fallout 76	2018-11-14	RPG	20	1032	52
BattleTech	2018-04-24	Tactical RPG	90	839	9
Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption	2018-07-10	Adventure-RPG	116	495	4
Vampyr	2018-06-05	Action-RPG	64	445	7
Assassin's Creed: Odyssey	2018-10-05	Action-RPG	20	400	20
INSOMNIA: The Ark	2018-09-27	RPG	74	376	5
Call of Cthulhu	2018-10-30	Adventure-RPG	31	313	10
ATOM RPG: Post-apocalyptic indie game	2018-12-19	RPG	23	278	12
Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition	2018-03-27	RPG	10	274	27
Final Fantasy XV	2018-03-06	J-RPG	23	260	11
Vigilantes	2018-10-03	Tactical RPG	38	216	6
Ghost of a Tale	2018-03-13	RPG	72	209	3
Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden	2018-12-04	Tactical RPG	21	190	9
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age	2018-09-04	J-RPG	14	178	13
Phantom Doctrine	2018-08-14	Strategy-RPG	23	171	7
Warhammer 40.000: Inquisitor - Martyr	2018-06-05	Action-RPG	30	161	5
Avernum 3: Ruined World	2018-01-31	RPG	4	151	38
Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales	2018-10-24	Card-Based RPG	11	144	13
Monster Hunter: World	2018-08-09	Action-RPG	6	137	23
Kenshi	2018-12-06	Strategy-RPG	17	129	8
Banner Saga 3	2018-07-26	Strategy-RPG	26	124	5
Star Control: Origins	2018-09-20	Action-RPG	16	104	7
Valkyria Chronicles 4	2018-09-25	Strategy-RPG	12	103	9
Shadows: Awakening	2018-08-31	Tactical RPG	18	95	5
Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom	2018-03-23	J-RPG	19	89	5
Ash of Gods	2018-03-22	Tactical RPG	21	81	4
Divinity: Original Sin II Definitive Edition	2018-08-31	RPG	8	81	10
Tower of Time	2018-04-12	RPG	17	80	5
Star Traders: Frontiers	2018-08-01	RPG	27	76	3
Space Hulk: Tactics	2018-10-09	Tactical RPG	7	63	9
Aeon of Sands: The Trail	2018-12-04	Dungeon Crawler	10	61	6
For the King	2018-04-19	Roguelike	31	61	2
Jagged Alliance: Rage!	2018-12-06	Tactical RPG	7	61	9
State of Decay 2	2018-05-22	Action-RPG	7	58	8
Yakuza 0	2018-08-02	Action-RPG	4	57	14
Sword Legacy: Omen	2018-08-13	Tactical RPG	7	54	8
Dustwind	2018-08-15	Tactical RPG	3	53	18
Into The Breach	2018-02-27	Strategy-RPG	11	51	5
Shieldwall Chronicles: Swords of the North	2018-12-17	Tactical RPG	3	51	17
Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics	2018-10-04	Strategy-RPG	6	49	8
Shenmue 1 & 2	2018-08-21	Action-RPG	9	45	5
The Warriorlock	2018-09-14	RPG	20	45	2
Book of Demons	2018-12-13	Card-Based RPG	8	39	5
Chrono Trigger	2018-02-27	J-RPG	5	39	8
The Council	2018-03-13	Adventure-RPG	13	38	3
Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus	2018-11-15	Strategy-RPG	7	38	5
Nantucket	2018-01-18	Strategy-RPG	3	36	12
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA	2018-04-16	J-RPG	7	33	5
Disgaea 5 Complete	2018-10-22	Strategy-RPG	4	31	8
The Great Gaias	2018-06-22	RPG	3	31	10
Dark Quest 2	2018-03-06	Tactical RPG	4	30	8
Depth of Extinction	2018-09-27	Tactical RPG	15	30	2
We Happy Few	2018-08-10	Adventure-RPG	11	30	3
Deep Sky Derelicts	2018-09-26	Action-RPG	5	29	6
Exiled Kingdoms	2018-02-23	Action-RPG	2	24	12
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age	2018-02-01	J-RPG	4	24	6
Ys: Memories of Celceta	2018-07-25	J-RPG	3	23	8
Dead In Vinland	2018-04-12	Adventure-RPG	5	22	4
Extinction	2018-04-10	Action-RPG	5	20	4
Healer's Quest	2018-04-18	RPG	8	20	3
Sanctus Mortem	2018-11-16	J-RPG	5	20	4
The 7th Circle	2018-09-10	Dungeon Crawler	1	19	19
Dead Cells	2018-08-07	Metroidvania RPG	7	16	2
LEGRAND LEGACY: Tale of the Fatebounds	2018-01-24	J-RPG	3	15	5
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II	2018-02-14	J-RPG	3	15	5
Below	2018-12-14	Roguelike	7	14	2
Hevn	2018-09-24	Adventure-RPG	3	13	4
Immortal Unchained	2018-09-07	Action-RPG	3	13	4
Wartile	2018-02-08	Strategy-RPG	1	13	13
All Walls Must Fall	2018-02-23	Tactical RPG	3	12	4
Delver	2018-02-02	Roguelike	6	12	2
Infinite Adventures	2018-10-30	Dungeon Crawler	4	12	3
Knight Bewitched	2018-04-18	J-RPG	2	11	6
Pendula Swing	2018-08-15	Adventure-RPG	2	11	6
Unavowed	2018-08-08	Adventure-RPG	7	11	2
Azure Saga: Pathfinder	2018-03-14	J-RPG	4	10	3
Demon's Rise: Lords of Chaos	2018-04-25	Tactical RPG	3	10	3
Lost Sphear	2018-01-23	J-RPG	5	10	2
CrossCode	2018-09-20	Action-RPG	12	9	1
Moonlighter	2018-05-29	Action-RPG	5	9	2
Das Geisterschiff	2018-09-19	Adventure-RPG	1	8	8
City of the Shroud	2018-08-09	Tactical RPG	8	7	1
Crimson Keep	2018-11-29	Dungeon Crawler	2	7	4
Epic Battle Fantasy 5	2018-11-30	RPG	1	7	7
Ancient Frontier: Steel Shadows	2018-12-11	Strategy-RPG	1	6	6
Ashen	2018-12-09	Action-RPG	6	6	1
Beast Quest	2018-03-13	Action-RPG	2	6	3
Veil of Crows	2018-10-18	Strategy-RPG	3	6	2
Graveyard Keeper	2018-08-15	Adventure-RPG	3	5	2
Mary Skelter Nightmares	2018-07-19	Dungeon Crawler	2	5	3
Pit People	2018-03-02	Strategy-RPG	3	5	2
Valthirian Arc: Red Covenant	2018-10-02	Action-RPG	1	5	5
Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk	2018-09-18	Dungeon Crawler	1	4	4
Niffelheim	2018-09-26	Adventure-RPG	5	3	1
Azuran Tales: Trials	2018-06-01	Metroidvania RPG	1	2	2
Devious	2018-07-26	Dungeon Crawler	2	2	1
Distortions	2018-03-02	Adventure-RPG	1	2	2
Heroes of Hammerwatch	2018-03-02	Roguelike	1	2	2
Just One Line	2018-09-12	Adventure-RPG	2	2	1
Secret of Mana	2018-02-15	J-RPG	5	2	0
The Swords of Ditto	2018-04-24	Action-RPG	3	2	1
Xploquest 2	2018-02-20	Adventure-RPG	2	1	1
Dust and Salt	2018-01-25	Adventure-RPG	1	0	0
Fallen Legion+	2018-01-05	Action-RPG	2	0	0
Gilded	2018-01-18	J-RPG	1	0	0
Once upon a Dungeon	2018-01-19	Roguelike	1	0	0
Siralim 3	2018-10-15	RPG	1	0	0
Tangledeep	2018-02-01	Roguelike	2	0	0
The Greater Good	2018-10-23	Adventure-RPG	2	0	0
Towards The Pantheon	2018-05-16	RPG	3	0	0
Where the Water Tastes Like Wine	2018-02-28	Adventure-RPG	1	0	0

For most anticipated: the games, scheduled to be released in 2019:

Title	Date	Genre	News Posts	Comments	Average
Realms Beyond	2019-06-01	RPG	26	1003	39
Wasteland 3	2019-05-01	Tactical RPG	30	481	16
Phoenix Point	2019-06-01	Tactical RPG	70	465	7
The Outer Worlds	2019-08-10	Action-RPG	5	196	39
Queen's Wish: The Conqueror	2019-05-30	RPG	7	193	28
Shenmue 3	2019-08-27	RPG	35	188	5
Dungeon Kingdom: Sign of the Moon	2019-03-01	Dungeon Crawler	30	126	4
Greedfall	2019-03-15	RPG	13	126	10
Druidstone: The Secret of the Menhir Forest	2019-01-03	Tactical RPG	11	98	9
Wellspring: Altar of Roots	2019-03-01	RPG	11	95	9
Outward	2019-03-26	RPG	13	79	6
Biomutant	2019-06-01	Action-RPG	14	71	5
The Sinking City	2019-03-21	Adventure-RPG	13	64	5
Sunless Skies	2019-01-31	Roguelike	13	54	4
Praey for the Gods	2019-03-01	Action-RPG	7	51	7
Thea 2: The Shattering	2019-02-15	Strategy-RPG	14	50	4
Alaloth: Champions of the Four Kingdoms	2019-03-15	Action-RPG	3	49	16
Eitr	2019-06-01	Action-RPG	9	49	5
Mage's Initiation	2019-01-30	RPG	39	49	1
Two Worlds III	2019-05-01	Action-RPG	2	44	22
Grimshade	2019-02-15	Tactical RPG	6	36	6
Hellpoint	2019-02-01	Action-RPG	7	35	5
Theseus: Journey to Athens	2019-06-20	Adventure-RPG	2	35	18
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night	2019-03-01	Metroidvania RPG	9	24	3
Breach	2019-06-21	Action-RPG	3	22	7
Crying Suns	2019-03-01	Roguelike	3	16	5
HellSign	2019-05-05	Puzzle-RPG	8	16	2
Monomyth	2019-07-26	Action-RPG	1	16	16
Operencia: The Stolen Sun	2019-06-01	Dungeon Crawler	2	14	7
Rogue Empire: Dungeon Crawler RPG	2019-01-30	Roguelike	2	12	6
Eternity: The Last Unicorn	2019-06-25	Action-RPG	1	11	11
Jupiter Hell	2019-05-31	Roguelike	5	11	2
Divinia Chronicles: Relics of Gan-Ti	2019-12-01	Action-RPG	7	10	1
Iratus: Lord of the Dead	2019-05-01	Strategy-RPG	3	10	3
Winterfall	2019-03-01	RPG	1	9	9
The Iron Oath	2019-03-20	Tactical RPG	7	6	1
Long Gone Days	2019-04-03	RPG	3	4	1
Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption	2019-02-19	Action-RPG	2	3	2
Silicon Void	2019-08-01	Dungeon Crawler	1	2	2
Code Vein	2019-03-27	Action-RPG	11	1	0
Luckless Seven	2019-03-20	Card-Based RPG	1	1	1
Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition	2019-01-11	J-RPG	1	0	0

Have fun as you try to do this every year. Still remember trying to update both lists as news-editor a few years back. It was ultimately a pain in the ass in the end.

wew….that's a long list
Games to be removed from GOTY
1.Ash of Gods
2.Call of Cthulhu
3.Warhammer: 40K Martyr
3. Fallout 76
4. Immortal Unchained
5.We Happy Few
6.Where the Water Tastes Like Wine
7. Jagged Alliance: Rage
8. Insomnia: the Ark
9. Vampyr
10. Bard's Tale IV
11. Neverwinter Nights: EE
12. underworld: Ascendant

for goty, depends how many can enter the poll

Ash of Gods 2018-03-22 Tactical RPG
Ashen 2018-12-09 Action-RPG
Assassin's Creed: Odyssey 2018-10-05 Action-RPG
ATOM RPG: Post-apocalyptic indie game 2018-12-19 RPG
Avernum 3: Ruined World 2018-01-31 RPG
Banner Saga 3 2018-07-26 Strategy-RPG
Book of Demons 2018-12-13 Card-Based RPG
Ghost of a Tale 2018-03-13 RPG
INSOMNIA: The Ark 2018-09-27 RPG
Kenshi 2018-12-06 Strategy-RPG
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2018-02-13 Action-RPG
Monster Hunter: World 2018-08-09 Action-RPG
Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden 2018-12-04 Tactical RPG
Pathfinder: Kingmaker 2018-09-25 RPG
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire 2018-05-08 RPG
The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep 2018-09-18 Dungeon Crawler
Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales 2018-10-24 Card-Based RPG
Valkyria Chronicles 4 2018-09-25 Strategy-RPG
Vampyr 2018-06-05 Action-RPG
Warhammer 40.000: Inquisitor - Martyr 2018-06-05 Action-RPG

+Spellforce 3 (not on the list)

Games to be Added
1. Shadows the Awakening

If I had to do the filtering, I would start by removing all J-RPGs, Metroidvania-RPGs, and Roguelikes. Then I would remove anything that is an add-on or improved version. That would reduce the list with at least 20 games, but would still leave 80+ games.
The next thing I would do is check the number of news posts we have on each of the games and use that as an additional filter to get to half of the games, so some 40, which is more than enough in my opinion (with the idea that more news posts means more interest).



Or, if there is too much backlash on the first action, I would just do the second action and come also to some 40 games

No need for anticipated games poll, Cyberpunk will win haha.

Originally Posted by yemeth
Games to be Added
1. Shadows the Awakening

Oh that looks like something is wrong with the script extracting the information from the database. Lemme fix that.

There is so much suspense to know the GOTY.

Great list by the way to advocate for PC gaming not dead.

Originally Posted by porcozaur
No need for anticipated games poll, Cyberpunk will win haha.

Question is: Will it be released in 2019?

What should be the parameters for shortlisting? If not quality (which games we think were best) then it probably should be games with a wider appeal on this site. I say that as someone who plays and enjoys some pretty niche games. Most JRPGs have no chance to make in on the RPGWatch GOTY list and that goes for most small indies as well. I'd say (just from reading news and following threads) the following games seem like contenders. That means enough people have played and posted positive things about them that I predict that they have a chance to get in the top ten list:

Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
Atom RPG
Avernum 3
Banner Saga 3
Battletech
Call of Cthulu
Disgea 5
Fallout 76
Ghost of a Tale
Hero U
Insomnia
Kenshi
Kingdom Come: Delivererance
Monster Hunter World
Mutant Year Zero
Pathfinder: Kingmaker
Pillars of Eternity 2
Star Control:Origins
The Bard's Tale 4
The Council
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 2
Tower of Time
Thronebreaker
Valkyria Chirnicles 4
Vampyr
Yakuza 0

Just breezed through it as am having some hangover (surprise, surprise).

FO76 is mmo. If mmos are allowed on the list okay, but…
We Happy Few is not really RPG and regardless of it's (artistic?) potential was released in such poor state I'm unsure anyone will ever vote for it.

For 2019


Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
Druidstone: The Secret of the Menhir Forest
Mage's Initiation
Phoenix Point
Queen's Wish: The Conqueror
Realms Beyond
Shenmue 3
Sunless Skies
The Outer Worlds
The Sinking City
Thea 2: The Shattering
Two Worlds III
Wasteland 3

Originally Posted by henriquejr
Question is: Will it be released in 2019?

What's the usual rule here? Is a "I hope we release 2019" enough, or does it have to be an officially planned date?

And regarding the actions suggested by @Myrthos: I dont know how easy that would be, but would'nt it make sense to count comments on news posts instead?

Originally Posted by henriquejr
Question is: Will it be released in 2019?

Why wont it as analysts and insiders predict it will release in 2019.

Just check the forum for those links and videos I shared.

Link - https://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/show…=39965&page=11

I agree that Fallout 76 is a MMO, and should not be included. Besides, it shouldn't be included on any list which is talking about GOTY anyway, unless you want to pollute and taint the whole list.

For 2019 most anticipated, definitely Realms Beyond and Wasteland 3.

You're missing Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness, which they estimate a 2019 release date. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects…rs-of-darkness

Some games that I guess can be described as having some rpg elements, but perhaps strictly not a rpg, but that have high anticipation:

Left Alive
Resident Evil 2 (remake)

Edited/Updated: In general, there are way too many obscure games on the list, that most people will not know or even have heard of. I am here all the time and a hardcore gamer, but I don't know 75% or more of those games…ok, maybe my tastes run to more high profile games, but I'm just sayin'.
If I don't know many of those games, 99% of the gaming public won't know either.

I guess what I'm suggesting is that list can and should be dramatically pruned.

Originally Posted by Cacheperl
And regarding the actions suggested by @Myrthos: I dont know how easy that would be, but would'nt it make sense to count comments on news posts instead?

Well when I was News-editor it was mostly guesswork. Basically because most games never gave a concrete date or just give an estimate. Usually I just used TBA.

Anyway that was just me I'm not Myrthos. I also know my three picks already.

I don't think it has to be released in 2019; if we all anticipate it as the best game for 2019. After all any game on the list could be delayed beyond 2019….

Originally Posted by henriquejr
Question is: Will it be released in 2019?

Just my opinion like Myrthos for the GOTY list.

Remove the following games.

1. J-RPG's
2. Roguelike's
3. Metroidvania RPG's
4. Adventure-RPG's

List will be pruned by half or more.