Escapist GOTY Contest Thing

[JackSlack]

So, we're down to the final four.

Assassin's Creed IV. Bioshock Infinite. Papers, Please. The Last of Us.

(And I'm shocked GTAV was trumped by AC4!)

Any thoughts? I'm so hoping for Papers, Please to win it all. What a great game.

[Bebop Man]

Looks like BioShock is going to trump Papers Please. I bet it'll be BioShock vs. The Last of Us in the end. AC series has a lot of detractors.

[JackSlack]

It was my prediction too, yeah. That said, it's early days. Papers, Please was behind XCOM for most of the first round.

[My pseudonym is Ix]

AC4 was liked by almost all who played it, by all accounts, for being so damn piratey, but it won't win simply by virtue of the series it finds itself in- hence the detractors. I reckon the Last Of Us will nick it, but wouldn't be surprised to see Bioshock make Mr Sterling proud

[JackSlack]

I think The Last of Us has it on the basis of fewer detractors. Bioshock does have its admirers, but also those who will vote against it rather than for TLoU.

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

I would say the Indie game. Because the AAA games will get enough credit anyway with munnies.

The Indie games company needs the positive stigma so it can sell more copies, and have more money to make future titles.

I haven't played any of the 4. So the only thing I could offer was who would need to win more. People who vote won't have played any of those games.
In that case the most talked about game might win.

(Personally Game of The Year is Pokemon XY because that's the game I am currently playing a lot of, and only new game I bought this year I liked).

[Kapol]

I had hoped that Pokémon X and Y would beat Last Of Us. But I'm not surprised it didn't.

I personally voted Papers, Please and... I dunno. Hadn't played either of the two others. The problem with this poll is that it becomes 'vote for the game that sold more to our target audience.' People are more likely to vote for games they actually played. And past that, I feel like they're more willing to vote for the game that 'looks' better. As in, it's not a sequel, or it's a big improvement.

I'm personally confident that Infinite has this locked down though.

[AdmiralMemo]

Who should win? Papers, Please. Who do I think will win? Bioshock Infinite.

[JackSlack]

Yeah, Bioshock has it sewn up I think, since it looks like AC4 is going to beat TLoU.

A shame. I didn't much like Infinite. But it has its defenders, and I can see why.

[Prospero101]

I am one of those unabashed lovers of BioShock Infinite. It wins my utterly meaningless GOTY, hands down.

Which isn't to say I didn't thoroughly...well, I guess one doesn't ENJOY Papers, Please, but it sure was a game I played that did stuff in my headspace.

[JackSlack]

I cheerfully enjoy the HECK out of Papers, Please. I run Perfect Mode, Course 4. Think my best is around 90 or so.

[Kapol]

I found Infinite to be good, but not all that special. Papers, Please was a good, interesting game that's not like anything else out there. It's not great either, but it's solid and unique. I'd rather give that GOTY than Infinite. Haven't played AC4 or Last Of Us, but I kind of want Last Of Us to lose just since it's an exclusive, and I want to punish it for being exclusive. Cause I'm mean.

Honestly, out of all the games they gave, none of them really make me feel like it's a GOTY to me. Super Mario 3D World was good. Pokémon X and Y were good. I just have no recent games I can remember I'll like as GOTY.

[JackSlack]

I'd say that Bioshock Infinite and The Last of Us can both be described in very similar terms. Hell, I'm going to paste up a pair of quotes. You tell me which game it's describing.

Do I think story in [BLANK] is worthwhile; do I think it in some capacity edifying to experience and ponder? Yeah, warts and all, I do. Do I think that story is crammed into the loading sequences for a game that has a passable but otherwise boring set of mechanics? Yeah, I also think that’s the case. And I think maybe that’s the reason this sort of game style has survived as long as it has; because there’s enough people out there that legitimately don’t care whether their play is meaningful. And as long the story bits are entertaining story bits and as long as the gameplay bits are fun gameplay bits, the game is a “good game.”

[BLANK] doesn’t want to be most games. It wants to be Important, it wants to Say Something. But it thinks it can do that without addressing its absurd, stilted, floaty, gory gameplay, and more than anything that is why it fails... There are moments I legitimately loved in this game; moments that will stick with me. But we can’t let games be human and artful in bits and pieces. Honesty and integrity and empathy aren’t like the marshmallows in Lucky Charms, they’re not meant to be the small good parts surrounded by the fluff of machinegun fire and murder. And they’re not like the lollypop we get for being a good kid at the dentist; they’re not the sweet reward we get at the end for putting up with all this tacky combat. They’re things we need to be demanding our games to simply be. Sneaking in a quiet moment or saccharine song between meaningless violence isn’t going to push this medium forward, and no number of ten out of ten reviews can change that.

Papers, Please, at least, is not that. It's a game in which the story is directly informed by the gameplay, and the gameplay by the story. It feels whole in a way neither Bioshock Infinite nor The Last of Us do. To my mind, it's a clear Game of the Year; the gameplay is frequently tense and difficult yet engaging, the story is told at all times by both mechanics and dialogue while remaining complex enough to provoke a 'but what happens next?' logic, and the social commentary is... well, way, way better, sharper and more topical than Bioshock. (Though The Last of Us is clever in that regard, though it's less topical, more broadly philosophical.)

And yeah, if Papers, Please didn't work for you... I don't know what else on that list I'd nominate. Probably Pokemon, Mario, or Europa Universalis, all of which, for any other faults, are cohesive, singular wholes.

Or so I'm told. I haven't played any of those three, I confess.

[Kapol]

I enjoyed Papers, Please. But I didn't feel as though the story was anywhere near revolutionary itself. It's about the workings of a soviet state, as well as a group trying to fight against it. There aren't many real characters in the game. The only memorable moments for me were times I actually got to do something other than the basic mechanics (shoot people), and the one character who repeatedly came back. And that was solely because those moments were unique.

The gameplay held my interest, but I don't think it told as much of a story as you give it credit for. The story complimented the mechanics in that they were linked. But the main story was the same as any cutscene really. People told you stuff. You could either choose to do it one way, or the other. Go back to basic gameplay. The gameplay did a good job of enhancing the atmosphere, for sure. But I feel the design of the game did that better. The split between the top screen, with the line waiting, the person, and the desk all helped give the oppressive atmosphere, as did the graphics.

It's a good game mind you. I just don't think it was completely astounding. The way it managed to turn what should have been dull gameplay into the addictive format it's in is impressive. But I don't think it was enough to put it past other games in my mind.


...I don't know if it was released this year, but Rogue's Legacy might be up there for my GotY.

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

Honestly, out of all the games they gave, none of them really make me feel like it's a GOTY to me. Super Mario 3D World was good. Pokémon X and Y were good.

What would make Pokemon X and Y game of the year is how accessible competitive battling is now.

1) You can visually see a Pokemon's EVs.
2) The NPC which tells you your Pokemon's IVs is easily found.
3) You can farm Heart Scales.
4) You can use Destiny Knot to pass down IVs to a baby. You can use Everstone to pass down the Nature.
5) The area outside the day care is great for running back and forwards to gather eggs.
6) You can use the centre of the capital city to hatch eggs by running laps.
7) Battle Maison and Restaurants lets you train Pokemon.
You can Wonder Trade rejected Pokemon in hopes you get something special.
9) You can filter retarded trade conditions on Global Trade.
10) You can queue for a battle with anyone at any time anywhere.

If all you care about is your own personal play experience and not interact with anyone, then Pokemon XY will be a fun game and that's it.

It's worth getting invested in the competitive scene. There are plenty of user-friendly resources online that will help you get into it.

I have never had so much fun in a Pokemon game before since Pokemon Blue.

It's wonderful putting time and effort into raising a Pokemon you like, and then showing it off to other people. It's also fun crushing unexpected players with a very weird play strategy.

[Bebop Man]

I feel every Pokemon game is the same as the one before (or the one from 1998 for that matter) and all they do is throw in a couple of novel gimmicks with a new batch of critters.

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

They are with regards to the Single Player experience.

But with the multiplayer experience, they've made creating the perfect Pokemon less "Waste of your Life" in Pokemon seXY.

[Kapol]

I feel every Pokemon game is the same as the one before (or the one from 1998 for that matter) and all they do is throw in a couple of novel gimmicks with a new batch of critters.

One of the biggest things to me, who doesn't care about multiplayer, is that they changed enough for it to be fresh.

For one, it's not an entirely new bunch of Pokémon. They mix a lot of good old favorites (for example, you can now find wild Eevees) with the new Pokémon. There aren't as many '...really?' Pokémon in this one (like the garbage and ice cream Pokémon from last generation). It's a solid mix with a decent number of interestingly designed Pokémon. This makes it feel less like 'eh, a new generation that was weirdly separated from all other Pokémon in the world' and more like a coherent world.

The second thing is the graphical overhall. It's easy to say 'oh, well new graphics, so what?' But frankly, the transition to actual 3D (and not that 2.5D that Black/White had) makes a big difference. It's really nice to actually see your Pokémon attack and battle, and it makes the world feel much more smooth to me.

A bunch of the additions that are small, but nice add up too. The EV-trainer makes EV-training easy enough that I didn't mind doing it for a couple of my favorite Pokémon. The Pokémon-amie was a nice little way to feel more connected to the Pokémon you've caught. The fact you could give yourself and your friends helpful buffs made it feel more interactive. And the fact the game rewards you for having friends was a nice touch.

The story was eh. It goes to a pretty dark place at points, which I can respect. For example, the fact the big bad powers his mass-death machine by using the life energy of Pokémon, causing them incredibly amounts of pain and killing them in the process. And the fact his machine would not only kill most people, but all Pokémon as well.

But one of the biggest things I liked was how fast the game starts you off. Within 5 minutes of starting, you have your starter, your name, your nickname, your running shoes, Pokeballs, and freedom to go out and battle/catch new Pokémon. To get to the point you actually can be out battling and catching Pokémon is normally 20-30 minutes.

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

For a game that has a very rewarding Multiplayer mode, they have achieved the impossible of making Single Player and Multiplayer modes support each other.

Well, you do stuff in Single Player land to help you be better in Multiplayer land.

Unlike in say other "Online games with single player" such as CoD where the two are severed from each other.

You EV train, breed, level, give moves, get items, evolve etc in Single Player.

You then bring the pain in Multiplayer.

I enjoy Multiplayer because it's a lot more exciting than farming the Elite 4 for the sake of getting level 100 with all my favourite Pokemon who have bad EVs, Natures and Abilities.

(Because there's 750+ Pokemon and a lot of them being unique and impossible to get now, I cannot be bothered completing the Pokedex anymore. I enjoy getting battling teams).

[Bebop Man]

While it does sound like they've finally perfected the formula (until they make another game), they've inched their way for too long over too many games for me to consider it GOTY quality. It lacks sensation, every new game is marketed as revolutionary in some aspect, it has no underdog material. Its story is contained in the title (Gotta Catch 'em All! The end) and I never found it particularly challenging either, I never met with a conflict that couldn't be solved through rock-paper-scissors. I played Blue & Gold and recognize the addictive appeal and how much silly fun it can be, but it's not something that will stay with you for too long.

[My pseudonym is Ix]

What Bebop's first sentence or so said.

[Kapol]

While it does sound like they've finally perfected the formula (until they make another game), they've inched their way for too long over too many games for me to consider it GOTY quality. It lacks sensation, every new game is marketed as revolutionary in some aspect, it has no underdog material. Its story is contained in the title (Gotta Catch 'em All! The end) and I never found it particularly challenging either, I never met with a conflict that couldn't be solved through rock-paper-scissors. I played Blue & Gold and recognize the addictive appeal and how much silly fun it can be, but it's not something that will stay with you for too long.

I disagree with the idea that past games in a series means that a game can be kept out of consideration for Game of the Year. The idea that a popular game that refines it's qualities as it continues, rather than being more of the same like some games, is somehow lessened for being part of a series seems foolish to me. By that same logic, pretty much no Nintendo series can be considered for Game of the Year. No Zeldas (well, besides that new one that looks like it'll be something completely new), no Marios, etc. And that's just using the easy example, since many Nintendo series have been going for pretty much as long as console gaming has been around.

As for Pokémon itself, the fact it's not challenging is still accurate. It's even worse now that EXP Share effects your entire party, meaning everyone in your party gets half the experience of a battle. But it's important to mention that 'Gotta Catch 'Em All' has never been part of the title. It is a motto, which is normally used to describe it anyways. That's more of a nitpick though.

As for not staying with you... that may be true for you, but it's certainly not true for everyone. There are still plenty of people who remember their time with each individual game. Everything from Blue to X. A lot of the games provide good memories, and some are revisited still. This new set changed enough that it's brought a lot of people back into the series as well.

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

If you want Challenge in Pokemon, play Online.

I've had my very strong team get obliterated by other players who are better than me.

It's true certain teams will be stronger than others in a battle, but so could be said about the MOBA scene. One side has the edge, but skill will decide the winner.
The skill of Pokemon is to craft the perfect team, which has the least about of flaws as possible.

[My pseudonym is Ix]

It's not that a sequel to a very long-running franchise can't be a very good game, or indeed the one that a given person most enjoyed over the course of the year, or even (in a rare circumstance) the objective 'best', but any game that so slightly tweaks the formula does not, IMO, deserve a GOTY title simply by virtue of not having pushed the medium forward enough or done sufficiently new and interesting things. No matter how good the latest CoD game or any similar clone/derivative were, for example, none of them could ever hope to beat Spec Ops: The Line in a GOTY lineup simply because they did not redefine what an FPS could be in the same way. Just my tuppence on the issue.

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

But given Pokemon Y is the only new game of 2013 I played, it does make it my Game of the Year.

But I am arguing why it's better than you think it is.