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NeoGAF Games of the Year 2014 Awards
- Thread starter timetokill
- Start date
MaverickHunterAsh
Member
I gotta say, GAF, I'm proud of our choices. Personally I had Shovel Knight as my GotY and ranked Smash Wii U higher than Mario Kart 8, but hey. Most of the truly deserving games are there, and that's what matters. <3
It did really well in the Eurogamer user voted Top 50 as well. Coming in at number 15, the second highest voted racer behind Mario Kart, which took the No 1 spot.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-01-02-readers-top-50-games-of-2014
Contrary to the reviews, I think Driveclub has had a very positive reception from actual gamers, and I would not be at all surprised if it was regarded as one of the most underrated games throughout the generation.
Cheesemeister
Member
Using the traditional sliding scale on this year's GOTY voting results in the following ranking, not accounting for the exclusion of remakes:
1./1. Bayonetta 2 (3426)
2./2. Mario Kart 8 (3064)
3./3. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (2692)
4./4. Dragon Age: Inquisition (2444)
5./5. Dark Souls II (2287)
6./6. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (2138)
7./7. Wolfenstein: The New Order (1997)
8./8. South Park: The Stick of Truth (1867)
9./9. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (1866)
10./10. Shovel Knight (1811)
11./11. Alien: Isolation (1238)
12./13. Infamous: Second Son (1183)
13./12. Destiny (1065)
14./14. Divinity: Original Sin (1052)
15./15. Sunset Overdrive (977)
16./16. Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (955)
17./17. Transistor (919)
18./18. The Evil Within (915)
19./19. The Last of Us: Remastered (869)
20./22. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (847)
21./20. Far Cry 4 (837)
22./21. Driveclub (822)
23./23. Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft (797)
24./24. Titanfall (734)
25./25. Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (703)
26./26. Grand Theft Auto V (656)
27./27. Diablo III: Reaper of Souls (623)
28./28. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth (622)
29./29. The Last of Us: Left Behind (588)
30./30. Forza Horizon 2 (555)
31./32. The Wolf Among Us: Episodes 2-5 (548)
32./31. P.T. (542)
33./33. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (514)
34./34. Valiant Hearts: The Great War (490)
35./35. Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (473)
36./36. Bravely Default (463)
37./37. Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition (427)
38./38. Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare (424)
39./40. The Banner Saga (414)
40./39. Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth (406)
41./41. Child of Light (383)
42./42. Hyrule Warriors (381)
43./43. The Walking Dead: Season Two: Episodes 2-5 (358)
44./44. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (346)
45./45. Velocity 2X (342)
46./46. Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire (322)
47./47. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (293)
48./48. Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call (281)
49./49. Shadowrun Returns: Dragonfall (273)
50./50. Rogue Legacy (259)
51./51. Wasteland 2 (250)
52./53. Kirby: Triple Deluxe (236)
53./52. Valkyria Chronicles (233)
54./54. Jazzpunk (221)
55./57. Watch_Dogs (216)
56./55. D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die (205)
57./56. World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor (202)
58./59. Threes (198)
59./58. Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- (197)
60./62. 80 Days (193)
61./60. Fantasy Life (191)
62./61. Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (191)
63./63. Legend of Grimrock 2 (181)
64./64. Monument Valley (181)
65./66. Might & Magic X: Legacy (175)
66./65. TowerFall Ascension (173)
67./69. Nidhogg (171)
68./67. This War of Mine (170)
69./71. Infamous: First Light (166)
70./68. Luftrausers (150)
71./70. Assassin's Creed Unity (145)
72./73. The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (144)
73./72. The Talos Principle (140)
74./74. Ultra Street Fighter IV (132)
75./75. Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd (132)
76./79. Final Fantasy X HD Remaster (129)
77./84. Freedom Wars (125)
78./76. Halo: The Master Chief Collection (124)
79./80. Pro Evolution Soccer 2015 (123)
80./77. Ace Attorney Investigations 2 (119)
81./82. Bayonetta (118)
82./81. Persona 4 Arena Ultimax (113)
83./78. OlliOlli (112)
84./83. Hohokum (112)
85./88. Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions (112)
86./89. Kentucky Route Zero: Act III (110)
87./85. BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea: Episode 2 (109)
88./87. Strider (109)
89./86. Broken Age: Act 1 (108)
90./92. Endless Legend (107)
91./95. Lords of the Fallen (107)
92./90. Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition (104)
93./93. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII (102)
94./96. Hitman Go (98)
95./94. LittleBigPlanet 3 (97)
96./99. Banished (97)
97./91. Civilization: Beyond Earth (95)
98./104. Metro Redux (94)
99./97. Love Live: School Idol Festival (90)
100./100. Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix (89)
It all looks like very minor statistical noise when comparing the same set of votes against itself. The real test is in what proportion of the votes have certain numbers of games listed. Not having rank 1 being 10 times as valuable as rank 10 is meant to encourage longer lists and discourage single game "ballot stuffing."
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
How would I ever choose between Persona 4 and Melee.
Could I give equal points to all my votes? Most of my favourite games are from that generation. Megaman Battle Network 3, Halo 2, GTA San Andreas, Stronghold, Fire Emblem Path of Radiance, THPS3, Brothers in Arms, Sims... along with Melee and Persona 4.
This would be such a tough vote.
ShockingAlberto
Member
o u
Just wait until a bunch of people vote for Jak 2.
WHO WOULD VOTE FOR JAK 2
I'LL FIGHT THEM
Fine Ham Abounds
Member
Could be worse, I rented it and sent it back in order to rent something else which I can't even remember now
ViewtifuJC has declared permanent war on me for this act
theprodigy
Member
o u
Just wait until a bunch of people vote for Jak 2.
now I want to put Jak 2 at #10 for a throwaway vote just because
Duxxy3
Member
GTA3 for me.
it doesn't matter because i'll be throwing out all those votes anyway.
comedy bomb
Banned
Feels weird to see the Nintendo domination and feel unimpressed. Although in all honesty there really isn't a game in the top 20 that fires me up.
ah i see. it's more of a personal thing since my brain has a much better time reading the numbers when it's that way since i'm doing it myself.
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
Use the Negative Point votes again.
actually i think i would. it's something that doesn't affect the main result, but was kind of fun after the fact. but it's for a rather large period of time and i don't think i'd do it for a first run through. if i ever do any other revote thread, i think i'll bring it back.
speaking of revote threads, i was thinking about starting where i left off, but i think 2005 probably wouldn't change. 2010 on the other hand actually might. it's cheesemeister and timetokill territory though.
If we're talking strictly Nintendo-published retail titles, Pikmin 3, Wonderful 101, 3D World were all fantastic games in 2013 (and I still play play them all). But Bayo 2+Smash U+MK8+Hyrule Warriors+Captain Toad+Tropical Freeze would easily beat that in overall quality.
And: November MK8 DLC > Pikmin 3 DLC + New Super Luigi U "expansion".
2013 also had Game & Wario, which wasn't a great retail title. Quality-wise, I'd say the weakest 2014 Nintendo-published retail title was Hyrule Warriors, but that was still a very very good title.
You too!
Riposte
Member
Now that it is in more functional shape, I've set my GOTY entry as my homepage. As I usually say, I encourage everyone to do the same, assuming you think it does a good job representing your tastes and perspective. It's something I check for, anyway.
On that thought, I'm hoping that next year maybe the voting thread can stay open longer (even if only by a bit)? Locking it almost immediately after the voting is done is very limiting. I feel like that thread generates a different discussion than this one, one I'm much more interested in (this thread is mainly focused on the results and the data it can provide). For me, it also allows some polishing up that can only be done after the voting (such as adding in affinity data), although this year with me being a bit rushed, a lot of polishing was necessary. Just my humble request.
Finally, I suggest people check out the soundtracks of the year thread, especially if you like reading wordy explanations from resident game music enthusiasts.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=953641
On that thought, I'm hoping that next year maybe the voting thread can stay open longer (even if only by a bit)? Locking it almost immediately after the voting is done is very limiting. I feel like that thread generates a different discussion than this one, one I'm much more interested in (this thread is mainly focused on the results and the data it can provide). For me, it also allows some polishing up that can only be done after the voting (such as adding in affinity data), although this year with me being a bit rushed, a lot of polishing was necessary. Just my humble request.
Finally, I suggest people check out the soundtracks of the year thread, especially if you like reading wordy explanations from resident game music enthusiasts.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=953641
The transition to the next generation properly I guess. It's also a reason the Wii U hit as hard as it did probably, because now they're getting comfortable with it (and inversely it helped they had a quality developer complete a game for them on hardware that probably wasn't THAT hard to wrap their heads around relative to the jumps everyone else had to make.)
Thanks! Because of your post I think I'll get Persona Q sooner than planned
Nope, all of the critical acclaim, the game of the year / generation / forever accolades, the perfect scores, it was all a big in-joke. But you saw right through it. Rats.
I'd extend this by saying the only games people can love are ones they played, and as such popularity will always be a massive determining factor in these things.
I don't know if I should prefer that, because I don't have to watch GAF place the best game of all time at roughly #73, or if I should be against it because I can't vote for the best game of all time.
well maybe someone can do the gbc/n64/sat/psx generation and have pc run from 1994-1999 someday.
TheSpaceBetween
Member
If we do a GOTG vote, I feel like we should be able to vote for AT LEAST 15 games, if not 20. It's gonna be so friggin difficult...
Honestly, I think 2000 is still a tad too early for PC. Notable PC releases of 2000 include Thief 2, Baldur's Gate 2, Icewind Dale, the first No One Lives Forever, original Deus Ex, when I think of these games I wouldn't really lump them in the PS2/GC/Xbox generation. Then again, Dreamcast's early release distorts the picture, so it's really hard to decide on a clear divide between the generations when it comes to PC games.
Cool! I'll look into Valkyria Chronicles, seeing as the affinity would've been even bigger had I put Far Cry 4 on my list. Truth is, I spent over 200 hours in that game. That was by doing French Localization QA on it though and I didn't feel like voting for it simply because of how it was, for me, a different situation from all those other games. I couldn't really judge it the same way.
I don't understand the reasoning. No one lumps BG2 or AoE2 in with console generations because they were made for PC which at the time was a lot more distinct from console development. No matter their release date, they're not "talked about in reference" to a particular console generation because they were irrelevant to it.
That said, I don't mind 2000 as a starting point for the reason of the PS2s launch, and it makes the hypothetical 94-99 vote a similar length.
theprodigy
Member
if we're going to be brutally honest, whatever cutoffs we make for PC games doesn't make that big a difference
You're right in terms of overall rankings, but it makes the sub categories interesting.
just as long as half-life 2 can get in there only to be brutally smacked down by two comparatively unimpressive halo games, i'm good.
I feel like if a GotG vote were to take place that it would have to be different from the typical GotY system. There are just way too many choices to pick from compared to a single year that simply trying to narrow it down to 10 games would be too difficult of a task.
An increase to top 20/25 might be needed. Maybe a top 5 or 10 per platform? Or genre?
An increase to top 20/25 might be needed. Maybe a top 5 or 10 per platform? Or genre?
i was thinking doing a top 15 or 20 might be worth it, but on the other hand i think 10 really makes people hone in on what they really really liked and sparks more introspection.
honorable mentions of course would be allowed, so a list can actually be as big or as small as anyone wants (well, limit of three).
i can think of about 10 games i would be comfortable saying were my favorite in a generation. what's hard is knowing there's stuff like grandia ii, kotor, ratchet & clank: going commando, and klonoa 2 that i really really loved that might not actually make the cut at the end of the day. but that just has to make me focus more on the things i liked in the top ten and why i feel they belong there over the others.
Yeah, I can see how that would be good. I just think that because there are so many games to choose from that we could potentially have a situation where each list looks completely different from the last.
We're dealing with a generation that most will compose a list for based on their memories instead of having the games somewhat fresh in their minds like a GotY vote. I think everyone will just vote for their favorites instead of which ones they truly believe were the best. The winning game will just be the one that happened to appear on the most lists instead of consistently topping them.
This is all just a guess though as I have no clue how this will go down until it happens. I just think adding in more spots or breaking it down into categories will get more games into each voter's conversation. This happens to me a lot with GotY votes where I'll expect a game to be pretty low on my list, but the more I thought about it the higher it would rise through my ranks. If I had less spots to begin with then that game wouldn't have even entered my mind to begin with.
miDnIghtEr20C
Banned
Huh... DriveClub over Forza Horizon 2 on this?!?!?!? Wow.
Touch fuzZy. get BizZay
Member
Wow. I felt like the Wii U had an incredibly strong year software wise, shockingly so, but that notion wasn't really expressed all that firmly and clearly by media outlets. Even when they acknowledge the WiiU as having the best games this year they do it grudgingly or without recognizing what a total blow out it was. Often as a short aside before they move on to talking about real games like Dragon age or Mordor.
But when it comes to the collective wisdom of GAF, the numbers just can't lie. Congratulations to nintendo.
On the downside....All those awesome exclusive games are not gonna translate into sales. the problem with the Wii U isn't what it offers but how it is perceived, which is as the yucky weak bad console no one wants to own and no one wants to develop for. Once that image has sunk in to become popular opinion, even a long list of 9/10 and 10/10 exclusive games helps astonishingly little. Microsoft also went to great pains to get out of the imaging hole they dug for themselves but that image sticks quite long after their anti-consumer policies were reversed and the kinect has been removed.
The other downside is that this awesome year was definitely the peak for the Wii U's software output. There are still some amazing games coming but there won't quite so many so close together like that again.
I'm really hoping my PS4 can turn around its barren library in a similar way this year, starting with Bloodborne, which has my hype levels at the absolute max. Looking forward to Persona 5 also.
Thanks for the thoughtful votes and well written game impressions GAF!
But when it comes to the collective wisdom of GAF, the numbers just can't lie. Congratulations to nintendo.
On the downside....All those awesome exclusive games are not gonna translate into sales. the problem with the Wii U isn't what it offers but how it is perceived, which is as the yucky weak bad console no one wants to own and no one wants to develop for. Once that image has sunk in to become popular opinion, even a long list of 9/10 and 10/10 exclusive games helps astonishingly little. Microsoft also went to great pains to get out of the imaging hole they dug for themselves but that image sticks quite long after their anti-consumer policies were reversed and the kinect has been removed.
The other downside is that this awesome year was definitely the peak for the Wii U's software output. There are still some amazing games coming but there won't quite so many so close together like that again.
I'm really hoping my PS4 can turn around its barren library in a similar way this year, starting with Bloodborne, which has my hype levels at the absolute max. Looking forward to Persona 5 also.
Thanks for the thoughtful votes and well written game impressions GAF!
i disagree. 2015 is potentially the best year so far. 2014 had donkey kong in february, nothing until mario kart at the end of may and then a game a month from september to october in the form of hyrule warriors, bayonetta 2, smash bros, and captain toad/nes remix collection. there was also wii sports club's retail release in summer and pushmo world on the eshop (and nes remix 2 on the eshop) earlier in the year, but those hardly are ever mentioned. literally no one who voted even gave wii sports club an honorable mention this year. that probably says something about its impact on the wii u's software lineup.
2015 already has kirby in february, mario party 10 in march, and splatoon in may. there's more stuff in the way of high profile games like zelda, xenoblade, and star fox that are being slated for this year as well. yoshi's woolly world is supposed to be out in the first half, and mario maker should be out this year too. the wii u in 2015 is a lot closer to having one solid exclusive a month than any other year, representing more genres than any previous year too.
Well, this is just GAF's list we're talking about. It's not like GAF has a 100% influence on what gaming consumers buy, and there are also a ton of games media that has their own lists that vary from the voters' choices here. At the end of the day, this list is more of a recognition to the output the devs have put out this year, especially to Nintendo, where those who have played their games really appreciate what they have done, and not as a recognition for great sales. Popular to the market and GotY do not really equate to each other.
On the other point, we just have to play out this year in order to make a conclusion. How many really thought Mario Kart 8 is GotY material last year? How many thought that the most hyped games coming out of 2014 fell from the grace of GAF? If we're talking about just Nintendo, this year they have 2 potential entries for GotY lists: Zelda Wii U and Xenoblade X (assuming these really come out this year) and a dark horse in Splatoon, so who knows. And with a much better software quantity this year than last year on the Wii U front, we might end up with some more Nintendo titles that might end up as a popular favorites at the end of 2015. But I doubt it will repeat last year not because of the reason you said about Wii U peaking software-wise, but because this year we have really strong contenders that hopefully won't disappoint.
Agreed, if anything 2015 is going to be the big blowout year with tons of games provided they all make it out this year, and Miyamoto has implied that there might be other Wii U games coming this year that haven't even been announced yet, though I imagine they could be smaller titles, as the year is pretty well stacked as it is from what we already know.
Speculating on Wii U's 2016 is more fun for me, since it's pretty much completely up in the air, all we know of is SMTxFE and the rest is a complete mystery. *cough*Metroid*cough*
Touch fuzZy. get BizZay
Member
Maybe you are right. The potential is there for a lot of these titles. But solid is a disappointly accurate descriptor for what most of those game will probably be, and solid doesn't get you in game of the year top 10's on gaf. I'd rather fewer but extremely good games, like in 2014.
As much as I adore the masterpiece that is Kanvas Kurse, that doesn't mean the new one can simply be expected to recapture that magic. There's a lot more middling to good-ish kirby games.
I was a big fan of the original Yoshi's Island (check my name) but none of it's half hearted pseudo sequels would ever be anywhere any game of the year list of mine. It's just been a string of disappointment, although I'll grudgingly acknowledge that Tezuka has the genius to break that cycle, I certainly don't think it's a given.
Starfox is in the same boat. Miyamoto's genius doesn't instantly erase the low impact Star Fox games have been making for quite a while, although I'd love it to be amazing.
Splatoon and mario maker, who knows? They could be hits or misses.
I do expect (as you seem to) that xenoblade will be a game of the year calibre game though.
And I don't believe a Zelda game of the usual level of quality nintendo puts forth can make it's 2015 release date and be a huge open world game at the same time. This may even be a twilight princess-like simultaneous swan song for the Wii U and launch game for whatever the next system is.