Ben-DutkaGame of the Year is sometimes predictable, but there are times when you surprise yourself with a certain pick. Some years, you just gotta stand up and profess your love of a decidedly unpopular game. Or, at least, a game that's widely regarded as "good" but definitely not GotY material.
Did that happen to you in 2015?
If you were to select your favorite game of the year, or if you had to pick the title that would win the overall top-dog award for 2015, what would it be? And when you announce your selection, do all your friends laugh? Or look at you as if you had lobsters crawling out of your ears? Sure, it's perfectly normal to choose Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain or The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt , but maybe you just loved – God forbid – Call of Duty: Black Ops III ? It's always interesting whens someone picks a dark horse, and it's even more intriguing when they defend that horse…
Me, I adore Everybody's Gone to the Rapture , even if everyone wasn't exactly "rapturous" about the indie hit. I'm not saying it's going to win PSXE's Game of the Year or anything but it has a special place in my heart, that's for sure. What about you?
I have not played Fallout 4 yet, but I'm cerrain it would be my favorite. With that in mind, it's probably Black Ops 3. They did a fantastic job this time around making it feel fresh to even someone who plays them every year. It's not the best game to come out this year by any means. It was just a great effort that succeeded in expectations as far as I'm concerned.
Fallout 4 would probably be my pick, really enjoy exploring the wasteland and discovering new places and opening more missions. The games massive and should keep many going well into the new year. Bloodborne would be a close second.
Phantom Pain sadly for me got old very quickly, the bosses were garbage and the open world approach was no where near as good as the more confined spaces of the previous games. And the ending? Oh dear…
Until Dawn deserves a mention imo, although short and hardly replayable (not alot really changes depending on the different decisions you make second or third time around imo), the game as a first time experience to play through is great with its first time jump scare moments.
Last edited by Kevin555 on 12/21/2015 12:50:51 AM
Sad to say the Phantom Pain grew old before I could beat the main game, simply to repetitious and boss battles were incredibly irritating.
I gotta go with The Order 1886, despite all the negativity from the press and the gaming community I keep finding myself wanting to return it's universe. I really enjoyed the story and am desperate to find out what happens next.
Gameplay wise, while the QTE's and hand to hand combat were similar to that of the PS2 era, the 3rd person gunplay and cover system are some of the best in the genre. This was a truly great year for games with Witcher 3 and Bloodborne stealing days of my life, however I'll never forget the Order 1886 and it's phenomenal storytelling and acting.
Last edited by Squirreleatsman on 12/21/2015 1:17:02 AM
Disgaea 5.
Why?
Because it's Disgaea.
The Witcher for me, just loved it.
Yakuza 5 for me! One if my favorite game series, and you know you will always get value for your money. 60 hours in and I am only 30% done!
Witcher 3 is a close second.
Thanks @SayWord you just reminded me to pick up Yakuza 5 5 before i below though my early Christmas Psn cash, guess its time for me to dust off my ps3
Wow Ben. I thought for certain your GotY would've been Witcher 3.
As for me all of my GotY candidates were popular choices this year.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 12/21/2015 11:21:25 AM
It probably is The Witcher 3. I'm just saying that if I had to pick a dark horse, it'd probably be Rapture.
Ah.
For me it's Order 1886 then.
Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition has become my favorite game of all time!! I'm about 100 hours in & only about halfway through it! This game is charming – you can wander anywhere/anyway you want; there are no fetch quests or "filler" (all the time I wasted in Witcher 3 swimming/diving/exploring for loot only to get stuff that wasn't as good as what I already owned); puzzles!! – remember when most RPGs had honest-to-goodness head scratching puzzles?!; funny dialog/moments/tombstones – humor is so underrepresented in gaming; fantastic soundtrack; beautiful looking.
I truly hope more games of this ilk come to PS4.
I hear great things about Divinity. It's definitely this year's most overlooked great game.
@Temjin001 Yes – especially when you consider PC Gamer recently named it #18 on their best of all time list. Hope it shows up in your stocking!
I also think the game got PC Game of the Year from Gamespot last year.
According to Gamespot, Rocket League was better than every game this year save it be for the Witcher 3.
They also commented on how incredible MGSV's story was.
Are these guys drunk?
Last edited by Temjin001 on 12/21/2015 5:05:10 PM
I would have to say my game of the year would be Rocket League. I haven't had a game present a pure gameplay experience like this in ages. There's no gimmicky gameplay mechanics, or ridiculous fillers that you get in a lot of modern games. There's no paywall to extend your gameplay experience, all the DLC that is included that extends gameplay experience is free. The only paid DLC in the game it is optional and just provides extra vehicles which have no difference in gameplay, simply cosmetic addition.
So we have fifa 16 that is copied and pasted every year with tiny changes and Bastion a 5 year old game over Until Dawn?
It's not 5 years for PS owners and it's on Vita as well
Then that means Final Fantasy 7 wins this years goty.It did come out this year for ps4 so thats that then.
Ha. No. FFVII was great for its time. Had the identical game released this year for the first time a niche few would've noticed its existence. As in only old school turn based fans who were hard up for some representation or teenage anime fans looking for more games to play.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 12/22/2015 4:24:00 PM
Reading the comments and some ppl aren't actually answering this question.
My dark horse would be Mad Max. Great vehicular combat, outstanding atmosphere, meaty (but repetitive) package, clear cut story, beautiful graphics, and just a pure mad max experience as far as theme.
Obvious GOTY are MGSV, Witcher 3, and Fallout 4. But I wouldn't be mad if I saw this win which it clearly wont.
No one wants Akiba's Trip? Really?
Not sure this is a great year for "Dark Horses".