Giant Bomb Thread The Third: #TeamBrad
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Yo gonna get dunked so hard you couldn't walk straight for a week.
PedroLumpy
Member
Well that game is in a weird spot. It's my Game of the Year so far, but that's because I experienced it in a very specific way, that I think I was lucky to get when it came out, and frankly is likely impossible now. So while there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that it is my current GOTY, I wouldn't expect most people to agree. What I think made that game a GOTY experience, you can't get anymore.
So basically I don't think it's possible to convince you, and I am not surprised that many will not agree that Journey is a GOTY contender.
Isn't Brad the only one who's played it? Wait, maybe he can filibuster his way through it. Hmmm...
Man, I really need to buy that 360 version of Uncharted 2
For downloadable, it will be a tough fight between Dust, Mark of the Ninja and Journey.
Riposte
Member
I think Journey is through and through inane trash. Yet another case where thatgamescompany takes an established formula, strip it down so that it is virtually without any depth (and becomes unrecognizable, thus gains novelty), and then slap on a similarly simplistic (and wimpy) screensaver-appropriate aesthetic (which becomes the main and sole appeal). To be fair though, it is very polished trash.
I have no trouble seeing it grab a lot of GotYs though. Will it grab GiantBomb's GotY? I'm going to guess that will ultimately depend on Jeff. He liked it, but I could see him going for something more meaty. Then again, Ryan will probably just side with the zeitgeist like last year and that could shift the balance (did he play Journey?). That was so bad I had to listen to it myself.
slightconfuse
Banned
kid icarus did come out htis year. omg i forgot that game was good.
also if patrick thought lost was crazy, VLR is crazer times 100000000
also if patrick thought lost was crazy, VLR is crazer times 100000000
slightconfuse
Banned
i hope ausra wrath gets some sort of due.
So in other words, needs more guns?
I doubt it will. It's (by design) barely a game.
Unless they have a best FMV game, it could probably fit in there.
That is one thing that larger sites have an advantage over GB on. At IGN and such, they get as many editors as possible to play the big games of the year. With Giant Bomb, it could be an amazing game only one person has really played (Witcher 2, Human Revolution) or an overrated game 4 people enjoyed (SR3).
chickdigger802
Banned
did Jeff abandon formspring for tumblr?
Walking Dead is more of a game than Asura's Wrath.
bearythebear
Member
The Walking Dead is pretty much lock for GOTY. The last episode is at the end of the year. I dunno if it's really a game though. More like an interactive story.
How? Asura's Wrath has shooting segments and a combo system.
slightconfuse
Banned
journey is barely a game ether
"There's only a handful of games I want to play days after the system launches, should I just skip it entirely?"
"Yeah probably"
The grand majority of Asura's Wrath is QTE button mashing. There's a very loose combat system sprinkled within, but it's meant to be an interactive movie before it's meant to be a game.
At least TWD has puzzle solving and branching effects to the narrative depending on your choice.
AW would have been a lot nicer (not necessarily better) if, after you beat it, it had a movie mode where you could just sit back and watch all the insanity happen.
Riposte
Member
Designing combat mechanics and putting it in a game would require effort and probably void a good chuck of "OH MY GOD, IT IS LIKE NOTHING I'VE EVER SEEN BEFORE!" that allows thatgamescompany to coast on air.
It is undeniably a game. However it is just less so. Like a movie that's mostly stills.
TWD's role-playing isn't that great, but then I haven't played the whole thing yet.
weekend_warrior
Banned
The MGR demo that comes with ZoE HD will be GOTY.
TWD's 'puzzles' consist of just clicking everything. TWD is not challenging in the adventure game sense at all.
Riposte
Member
By Platinum Games tradition, Ryan will review MGR and give it a 4/5.
Journey does what it does differently and superbly. I suppose the big question is whether the "narrative" it provides is enough to bolster it's "gaminess". I played through Journey 5 times and each time, due to the people I was playing with and the knowledge of what was ahead, that narrative was different every time. Can't think of another game that's ever done that.
As long as AC3 is on no one's list. I'm coming around on that game now, but man it has issues in every single element.
So it's a bad adventure game. I'm okay with that. Don't put it on the list.
It's still more of a game than Asura's Wrath.
I think Mark of the Ninja is going to get high marks all around, provided anyone but Brad and Scoops played it.
Riposte
Member
There is a new "narrative" with every deathmatch ever played.
There is a new narrative with every Minecraft world. We can probably extend this to almost every single game so it's best to just drop it.
Riposte
Member
That's more or less my intention (though I wouldn't say "drop it", more like "understand it is universal").
Eh, yes and no. With Deathmatches, the competitive spirit sort of drives the same story over and over. The details are different, but it never makes you, the player, feel any different about what's going on. You're either up or down, that's it. More so if you're actually using voice chat and barking at one another for feedback. But cooperatively, you're right. If Monaco had come out this year, I think a lot of people would be talking about that game the same way they were talking about Journey, maybe more so since it's so backstabby.
With Journey, the fact that you have to figure out how to communicate and your own brain is dictating what the other person is trying to get across unless they're rushing off and leaving you in the dust, that's something very special. It's a trick, and unless you allow yourself to be tricked by it, you'll get nothing out of it. But if you do let it trick you, if you do let it cast its spell over you, you get an experience that's really amazing.
True, but wasn't MineCraft in the running last year? (Year before? When did Minecraft come out?)
And yes, it's it universal, but some games convey it better than others. The question is, is that so meaningful that you can hang a GOTY award on it? Right now Journey is my GOTY hands down, but that's not gonna be the same for everyone.
This year is tough. Last year it was so easy. Skyrim first, Bastion in an ever so close second. 2012 requires a lot of debate.
Yes, Minecraft is definitely not a 2012 release, however it is also very gamey. I like gamey games, that's what makes games games.
Also I highly disagree with Skyrim as GoTY last year. Skyrim vanilla was a poorly designed pile of boring, rife with bugs, some hilarious and others game-breaking. Its combat was mindless, dragons were tedious and monotonous, spellcasting was simultaneously improved and dumbed down, but it would've been fine had spellcrafting remained in, terrible UI for PCs, a boring main quest and everything was made to fellate the player's ego.
Buggiest game of the year always wins game of the year. Except that Uncharted 2 thing. That was an outlyer.
John Rabbit
Banned
i agree with skyrim only because SR3 was an even worse choice.
playing through spec ops right now, i hope patrick and jeff (and maybe ryan if he finishes it) push that game for SOME kind of recognition this year. it really deserves some kind of accolade in storytelling.
brad's filibustering is really just obnoxious.
brianmcdoogle
Member
Are we in agreement that the first GOTY podcast was the best one? And that they have progressively gotten worse?
slightconfuse
Banned
Brad fillabuster for minerva's den was awful.
You are dead to me.
jk SR3 has it's problems, yet despite that I had a lot of fun with it. It knew it was dumb so it fired on all cylinders in that direction. It was also a fairly good open world game and had good shooting.
It's also a shitty first person shooter, but it's not trying to be either of those things.
slightconfuse
Banned
SR 2 world felt more full.
SR 3 took it up to 11
SR 3 took it up to 11
Riposte
Member
Your simplified description of a deathmatch (admittedly brushing away the "details") can more or less be equally applied to Journey's "narrative", only you would need to remove the pedestal first. I have no idea how this is related to voice chat though. Ultimately you can recreate Journey lack of voice chat... by not taking part in voice chat in other games. I usually avoid voice chat in co-op (or competitive) games (not to mention games like Dark Souls where voice chat is missing), even playing them online with strangers. The difference here is that it actually matters in these other games how you approach teamwork and there is stress tied to these games when trying to figure out how to communicate (usually using tools which at best limit your ability to explain complex strategies, like for challenging puzzles or bosses). Playing without (voice) chat in a game of Team Stealth in Metal Gear Online (being a PSN game, a common occurrence) blows away sort of having a dude who follows you around in a game with virtually no opposition. Likewise with Resident Evil Outbreak (or Resident Evil 5+ without mics), Demon's/Dark Souls, Final Fantasy XI with Japanese players who can't speak any english, and so on. Probably one of my favorite things about online multiplayer with FPS is how, even in random rooms, good players will intuitively react to each other based on observing each others' actions. Even in Call of Duty(where voice chat doesn't imply any sort of strategic planning), you will never be surprised (which means instant death) if you know where your teammates are and thus know that they will have to be confronted first before you'll be flanked.
Maybe Journey's biggest accomplishment is taking something common and making it an "unique" selling point and having that piece of advertising repeated by enthusiasts like a game journo repeating a press release.
Skyrim and Bastion were both pretty bad games too, but at least they were honest efforts.
It doesn't matter what it is a trying to be, only what it is. The viewer decides that.
Maybe Journey's biggest accomplishment is taking something common and making it an "unique" selling point and having that piece of advertising repeated by enthusiasts like a game journo repeating a press release.
Skyrim and Bastion were both pretty bad games too, but at least they were honest efforts.
It doesn't matter what it is a trying to be, only what it is. The viewer decides that.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Maybe the twist will be that BLOPS2 will win.
hahaha
slightconfuse
Banned
i think Hitman is a dark horse. it comes out at just the right time
John Rabbit
Banned
i understand why people like SR3. i'm not saying it's not good at what it tries to do (big dumb...no DUMB...fun) but i just didn't think it was goty material. skyrim isn't either, but dark souls was never going to even finish in the top 5 with those guys.
slightconfuse
Banned
Witcher 2 was GOTY of 2011
brianmcdoogle
Member
What's worse, Brad filibustering both Minerva's Den and preventing Francis York Morgan from being best character, or them not giving game of the year to the game that they all enjoy, and instead choosing the much safer and traditional route for no real reason?
Oh come on. Last year was STACKED. Skyrim, Dark Souls, Portal 2, Deus Ex, Zelda, Uncharted 3, Mario 3D Land, Batman Arkham City... insane. It was pretty tough choosing a GOTY last year.
This year is tough in a different way. Honestly, I feel this has been a pretty weak year overall. My only nominees are Kid Icarus and Journey. Halo 4 will probably be there as well. Haven't played X-Com, Dishonored, Walking Dead or Sleeping Dogs, but I imagine they'll be in the conversation too. Diablo III, Mass Effect 3 and Max Payne 3 seem to be considered disappointments at this point. Doubt any Wii U titles will be making a huge impact either.
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