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[timetokill]

Thanks for all the error reporting, folks. We're updating the data as fast as we can.

Genres are such a pain in the ass, you guys. Seriously.

 

[ULTROS!]

Glad to see FFXV on the Top 10.

Lol at the salt though.

Woo my comment was featured.

Now this year will be interesting, much like 2016.

 

[megalowho]

Hitman in the top 10. Nice.

I'll finish UC4 sometime this year. Think I left off around halfway through. Wasn't doing it for me but for the most part I'm down with this year's list, some really good games on there and others I hope to play eventually. Thanks for all the work putting it together.

 

[Usobuko]

Since The House in Fata Morgana got #1 in high quality award, I went to the ot and discover a spoiler free review.

So I've finished the game, clocked in at 35 hours, and I've had some time to collect my thoughts. I am going to keep this as spoiler free and short as possible, while trying to get across my feelings for this game.

I have to start by stating that The House in Fata Morgana is the first Visual Novel I've really played...at least the first one I've played to completion. If you count Phoenix Wright (the first game), I guess I played one back when that was released in the US for the DS, but I never finished it. Regardless, I admittedly took in a lot of preconceptions to what a VN was. It was going to have waifus, it was going to have schoolgirls...all the stereotypical things one thinks when they haven't really researched or played one. I wondered just how much "game" was there. I'm a game designer by trade. Interaction of systems is generally a cornerstone of an experience for me. So yeah, The House of Fata Morgana had a lot going against it in terms of perception for me going in. When I finally emerged from the experience, there was but a single word I could pin on the entirety of it.

Perfection.

Apart from being a game designer, my original collegiate focus was creative writing. I'm definitely able to enjoy great works of fiction. I also tend to surrender myself to anything I am giving myself to. I allow myself to become emotionally invested because I personally get more out of any media when I do this. So despite some bias going in, I knew I had to leave a lot at the door in order to do this. I approached as the name suggested I should, a novel.

Let me get this out of the way early. If you aren't interested in reading, this game isn't for you. You have to read, and a lot. I mentioned this took me 35 hours to complete. Now, that's all the endings and dead ends, and some of it is idle time where I had to step away, but I'm a greater-than-average speed reader and it took me greater than 30 hours to do. It has visuals, sound effects, and music. Some light animation. There are points where you have to make choices, though few and far between in most cases. There are no stats, no inventory, no puzzles. It's a long choose-you-own adventure book. I, however, struggle to say that, as it belittles the experience, and use it only as a means for understanding what someone would be getting themselves into.

As I mentioned, I want to keep this as spoiler-free as possible, so I'll only speak in vague terms about the story itself. The Steam page says its, "A gothic suspense tale set in a cursed mansion. "The House in Fata Morgana" is a full-length visual novel spanning nearly a millennium that deals in tragedy, human nature, and insanity." This is definitely accurate, but there are a couple of things I'd like to expand upon, more in reference to the subject matter.

First, the story itself doesn't just make a great Visual Novel, at least as much as I understand them. This is honestly going on my list of favorite fictional works. I read quite a bit, and I do have a level of leniency on things that others sometimes don't. I mean, one of my favorite books of all time is The Thief of Always by Clive Barker. Not just favorite YA novel or whatnot, but favorite. I'm just stating this to set your barometer for whether or not you'd agree with my tastes. But this VN tells a tale so engrossing that I couldn't stop thinking about it any time that I had to step away from it. It's tragic, it shows people at their worst, and has long stretches of depressing narrative beating your over the head as it were a sledgehammer of vileness. Some of the twists you see coming, and it makes things all the worse since figuring out the twist doesn't damper anything, but instead just creates more pain as you watch it the light on the freight train of sadness just get closer and closer. I mentioned that give myself up to anything I am experiencing. I outright admit that I cry at things, though when it comes to games, there aren't too many that have made me. The House in Fata Morgana didn't only make me cry, but at certain points, turned me into a sobbing, messy puddle of a person. So to say it affected me would be an understatement.

Another topic I'd like to bring up is the care in which it handles very sensitive subject matter. While I'm not going to go into specifics, as that would ruin critical emotional beats, The House in Fata Morgana tackles certain, we'll say, "High Risk" topics with care and grace that is not only rarely seen in games, but rarely seen in media in general. There is little to nothing that is presented for shock value, as other works are more than guilty of when these things are used. Here, instead, they are made part of the emotional core of a character, and the writers go to great lengths to show the internal and external effects of each subject they breach.

Wrapping up, this game totally threw my preconceived notions for a VN out the window. No waifu focused, half-nude schoolgirl stuff here. Just an incredibly told story, crafted incredibly well with layers upon layers of tragic, heartbreaking narrative that build to an amazing end. Again, if you don't want to sit down in front of a PC and read for 30+ hours, this isn't for you. But if that doesn't bother you, and jumping into a VN is something you might want to do, while my limited experience with them doesn't allow me to recommend anything else, this is certainly one I can say was a great jumping on point for me, instantly propelling itself into my pantheon of best games and fictional works.

Ok, guess I'm playing this.

 

[Dragon1893]

Just realized that 5 of the last 8 gaf goty's are playstation exclusives. And if you go back a couple of years more there's MGS4 too. Edit: MGS4 was 2008 so that's actually 6 out of the last 9.

Anyway, that's a great list. I remember seeing Yakuza 5 on someone's list, was that eligible?

 

[TheDarkKnight774]

Thanks for all the feedback. As you can see on the spreadsheet, the amount of data we try to wrangle is rather voluminous and it's just about impossible to get every detail right. I'm going to push out an update based on the corrections posted thus far.

I'm sick of all these day one patches!!!

Spoiler

Keep up the good work!

 

[Touch fuzZy. get BizZay]

Dark Souls III. I thought Uncharted 4 was good but flawed in a lot of ways.

The rest not so much so far, though I didn't play much of Doom or Overwatch (just don't like either of those kinds of games, and could tell instantly) or The Last Guardian. Last Guardian is a very disappointing sequel to SotC so far, though. Nowhere near as interesting and very very frustrating. FFXV was a fucking joke, a disaster.

TY. Dark Souls III was my vote for #1

 

[MegaSackman]

i wonder how many people played doom's multiplayer

i know i didn't

0 matches on Uncharted 4, 0 on Doom, 0 on Titanfall 2, 0 on Infinite Warfare, never invaded someone on Dark Souls III nor I played it co-op. All games in my top 10 list.

 

[JusDoIt]

GTA V didn't resonate with people like RDR did.

GTA V sold 70 million copies.

It didn't resonate with people at all.

 

[thebisonxrc]

I must be completely out of touch or maybe I'm getting old, because this list does not represent my gaming interests at all. Despite that, I definitely enjoy seeing what GAF thinks.

Thanks to the people who put this together for all their hard work.

 

[Azoor]

Great list! here are by affinity buddies.

Azoor
1. Xater (117) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=227882349&postcount=1624
2. Vic_Viper (113) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=227189945&postcount=570
3. Kaji AF16 (108) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=227147763&postcount=327
4. No_Style (106) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=228487118&postcount=1934
5. Kill3r7 (103) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=227249406&postcount=809
5. Mechazawa (103) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=227204711&postcount=642
5. spindoctor (103) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=228404289&postcount=1885
8. Spikematic (102) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=228808530&postcount=2313
9. SickBoy (99) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=227370332&postcount=1054
9. Wedzi (99) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=227220871&postcount=704

 

[Chill Penguin]

Uncharted 4 winning is disappointing. Shows how strong the Sony fanbase is here at neogaf. Don't think it deserves it over Overwatch or Doom, and imo not the type of gameplay we should be rewarding,especially considering it's a poorly paced run of the mill sequel. But a message board game of the year list is not really anything to get worked up about, so it is what it is.

 

[GonzoCR]

Can't believe DOOM got second place. The fact that it was on pretty much everyone's list surely helped, even if it wasn't number 1. Well deserved in any case.

Disappointed Dishonored 2 isn't higher but really happy with HITMAN cracking top 10. Only 4 of my picks got into top 10 and in different order, so I'm clearly out of touch with GAF consensus lol.

Straley and Druckmann are on a roll. Uncharted 4 wasn't my pick but it's well deserved, even if it falters compared to TLoU.

 

[Ultimadrago]

Man, I didn't get an Affinity List because I only listed 5 games? That's Listist!

 

[Dangansona]

Would have preferred to see FFXV and Ratchet higher instead of Dark Souls and Titanfall, but overall I guess I can't complain that much.

I need to try to do this thing where you find your list soul mates.

 

[onemanasylum]

Uncharted 4 winning is disappointing. Shows how strong the Sony fanbase is here at neogaf. Don't think it deserves it over Overwatch or Doom, and imo not the type of gameplay we should be rewarding,especially considering it's a poorly paced run of the mill sequel. But a message board game of the year list is not really anything to get worked up about, so it is what it is.

It won most Press GOTY awards too, it'snot just NEOGAF, people don't agree with you. UC4's gameplay is outstanding... Maybe, just maybe the game is really, really good.

 

[Koozek]

I played U4 a few weeks ago for the first time and thought it was just as good if not better than U2. Can somebody point me to some posts on GAF explaining why the hell it's so hated over here? I don't get it. This sounds like the same ridiculous GAF Hyperbole™ regarding FFXV's Chapter 13 that makes you think it's the worst thing ever conceived in the history of gaming and mankind in general.

Imo, U4 has the most dynamic gameplay, the least linear and the most organic level-design, least frustrating encounter designs, and the best presentation in the series (or any AAA game, really). The quality of performances and animations is insane and the visuals were absolutely mind-blowing for me (at least on my Pro, don't know if it already looked as good on the normal PS4).

 

[Nere]

I am surprised how Total war warhammer is so low. The game was on the top games sold in steam and the game is amazing yet here it is pretty much ignored. Maybe gaf doesn't like total war games.

 

[Jibbajabbawockky]

These people have refined and exquisite taste:

1. Palehorse (87) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=227370166&postcount=1053
2. Atilac (84) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=227231613&postcount=751
2. danm999 (84) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=227270389&postcount=865
2. Mathi (84) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=228161635&postcount=1797
5. xChildOfHatex (81) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=227204603&postcount=641
6. leftstick (80) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=227203594&postcount=637
7. grandwizard (79) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=228607684&postcount=2005
7. Pafnucy (79) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=227216640&postcount=689
9. Khronico (78) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=227624953&postcount=1448
9. Screaming_Gremlin (78) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=228685702&postcount=2053

I am surprised how Total war warhammer is so low. The game was on the top games sold in steam and the game is amazing yet here it is pretty much ignored. Maybe gaf doesn't like total war games.

I liked it! But yeah, the Total War games in general don't seem to have a huge fanbase here.

 

[Stoze]

SteamWorld Heist is only tagged for Wii U when it also came out on PC, PS4/Vita, and iOS this year. Props to the few of you who played and voted for that gem.

 

[nynt9]

How is Overwatch not a new IP?

 

[Raylan]

R dott B buying Uncharted 4 again as we speak.

 

[Khalifa Jayy]

It really doesn't make sense that the platform specific, genre specific, etc. games of the year derive their points from the overall game of the year lists.


What if I played 10 amazing games on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, so those dominated my main list... But I could rank ten PS3-specific games, for example, that I enjoyed.

 

[Purest 78]

Uncharted 4 winning is disappointing. Shows how strong the Sony fanbase is here at neogaf. Don't think it deserves it over Overwatch or Doom, and imo not the type of gameplay we should be rewarding,especially considering it's a poorly paced run of the mill sequel. But a message board game of the year list is not really anything to get worked up about, so it is what it is.

Didn't Uc4 win the most Critics Goty awards as well?

 

[Dangerous1992]

Where is Xanadu Next?

 

[Zemm]

Final Fantasy above Blood and Wine is a bit laughable

 

[jesu]

My vote never counted because it didn't have at least one comment
(it had more than one actually)

And I listed the same game twice apparently
(No, Blizzard Mountain was an expansion and I thought those were allowed)

1. Forza Horizon 3 ; My favourite racing franchise ever just got better.
2. Forza Horizon 3 : Blizzard Mountain ; Then it snowed.
3. The Division
4. Titanfall 2
5. Gears Of War 4 ; Might have been higher if not for the shitty dlc practices.
6. Quantum Break ; I wouldn't want every game to have fully filmed episodes between every chapter but it worked really well here.
7. Deus Ex Mankind Divided
8. Plants Vs Zombies Garden Warfare 2
9. The Technomancer
10. The Witness

 

[ZangBa]

Well, I'm glad Furi got some recognition at least.

 

[onemanasylum]

I played U4 a few weeks ago for the first time and thought it was just as good if not better than U2. Can somebody point me to some posts on GAF explaining why the hell it's so hated over here? I don't get it. This sounds like the same ridiculous GAF Hyperbole™ regarding FFXV's Chapter 13 that makes you think it's the worst thing ever conceived in the history of gaming and mankind in general.

Imo, U4 has the most dynamic gameplay, the least linear and the most organic level-design, least frustrating encounter designs, and the best presentation in the series (or any AAA game, really). The quality of performances and animations is insane and the visuals were absolutely mind-blowing for me (at least on my Pro, don't know if it already looked as good on the normal PS4).

It's a combination of Xbox/Nintendo fan salts, and people who have not learned how to accept peoples opinion who differ from those. Yes UC4 has some of the best Third person gameplay out there, which makes the gameplay complaints more laughable.

 

[Raylan]

Uncharted 4 winning is disappointing. Shows how strong the Sony fanbase is here at neogaf.

It actually shows how good Uncharted 4 actually is. You know, "Uncharted 4", the game with the most GOTY awards in 2016.

 

[roytheone]

Glad to see my goty The witness in the top 10! Shouldn't it have won the new ip category though?

 

[Apathy]

It's a fucking conspiracy!!!!

Didn't Uc4 win the most Critics Goty awards as well?

Shhh, no need to being facts into this fight.

 

[Creamium]

Really good top 10, especially in the back half with The Witness and Inside. First time in a while that I disagree with the winner though. Decent game, but glaring issues kept it from my top 10. Anyway, over to affinity:

1. Magic Mushroom (137) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=227548584&postcount=1359
2. traveler (135) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=228805689&postcount=2287
3. Maragidyne (129) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=228638908&postcount=2018
4. brb (128) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=228514001&postcount=1952
5. KodaRuss (123) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=228175211&postcount=1811
6. Wiggy (122) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=227460957&postcount=1226
7. MegaSackman (118) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=227413613&postcount=1159
8. Robiin (114) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=227139487&postcount=239
9. MiamiWesker (113) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=228747483&postcount=2108
10. wilco (110) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=227249962&postcount=810

You guys are all right! Especially MagicMushroom, I think we share 7/10 games.

 

[neurosyphilis]

My Top 3 that year was Zelda > The Last of Us > Mario, and boy was it agonizingly close.

I think they've proven since Uncharted 2 that they are one of the two or three elite developers on the planet, and the crazy thing is, I think they are still getting better.

That's the scary thing. Naughty gets better and better with each game they release. The Last Of Us Part II is going to blow us all away. Them and Rockstar are in a league of their own, imo. Sequels to my two favorite games of all time by the two best studios possibly releasing close to each other is going give fun.

 

[timetokill]

Why isn't Gears 4 on this list?

Because it came out on PC. Those lists are meant to be exclusives-only.

 

[Majmun]

Red Dead Redemption 2 will be good competition for TLOU Part II in 2018.

RDR didn't even win GAF's GOTY in 2010

 

[TheDinoman]

In Uncharted's defense, I don't think "Sony fanboyism" has a whole lot to do with why it won this year.

I mean, GAF has been pretty hard on Nintendo over the years (see: every thread regarding the Switch since the presentation) and yet the top three games in GAF's 2014 awards are all Wii U exclusive, so....

 

[Despera]

These genres always confuse me every year. Uncharted (a TPS with multiplayer deathmatch) isn't a shooter, it's an adventure game, and the weird stealth/puzzle/sandbox of Hitman is an action game when just slowly walking around in plain sight and causing accidents is the best way to play and only using "action" is considered a last resort if you fuck up.

Was about to post something similar.

Hitman should be in a stealth category. U4 is action. Furi is also action (how is it a shooter?).

 

[Ultimadrago]

Final Fantasy above Blood and Wine is a bit laughable

Well, it's a new installment in a popular long-running franchise versus an expansion pack. I'm actually happy Blood and Wine even hit 12th place, though it's much more deserving of Top 5/10.

 

[Baron von Loathsome]

Glad to see my goty The witness in the top 10! Shouldn't it have won the new ip category though?

Overwatch should be the New IP winner.

 

[benny_a]

I played U4 a few weeks ago for the first time and thought it was just as good if not better than U2. Can somebody point me to some posts on GAF explaining why the hell it's so hated over here?

Given you're posting in a thread where it just won GAF GOTY it clealy isn't hated on GAF.

It has its detractors, every game does. Last year you could also see it with The Witcher 3.

If you want to see real haters, then you should've seen Journey and The Walking Dead S1 being neck and neck for GAF GOTY and how people were pissed off at either. The end of video games as we know it and I think within 5 minutes of the GAF GOTY thread you had a counter-thread about how terrible the GAF GOTY choice was.

 

[Jawbreaker]

Uncharted 4 winning is disappointing. Shows how strong the Sony fanbase is here at neogaf. Don't think it deserves it over Overwatch or Doom, and imo not the type of gameplay we should be rewarding,especially considering it's a poorly paced run of the mill sequel. But a message board game of the year list is not really anything to get worked up about, so it is what it is.

The Sony fanbase must be strong across the entire internet then since it has the most awards counting all sites/publications.

 

[TetraGenesis]

Now that's a good goddamn list.

The definitive game of the year list.

 

[Ridesh]

GTA V sold 70 million copies.

It didn't resonate with people at all.

And TLOU sold like 1/5 of that with luck?

Got lower scores.

Yet, it demolished it in terms of GOTY awards.

 

[TheRedSnifit]

I played U4 a few weeks ago for the first time and thought it was just as good if not better than U2. Can somebody point me to some posts on GAF explaining why the hell it's so hated over here? I don't get it. This sounds like the same ridiculous GAF Hyperbole™ regarding FFXV's Chapter 13 that makes you think it's the worst thing ever conceived in the history of gaming and mankind in general.

Imo, U4 has the most dynamic gameplay, the least linear and the most organic level-design, least frustrating encounter designs, and the best presentation in the series (or any AAA game, really). The quality of performances and animations is insane and the visuals were absolutely mind-blowing for me (at least on my Pro, don't know if it already looked as good on the normal PS4).

The pacing is bad. Bad.

The climbing stops being fun after about ten minutes, and in UC4 you just keep climbing and climbing and climbing and climbing. The combat itself is the best in the series, yet it feels like they decided to focus not on that but on climbing.

 

[ULTROS!]

It's a combination of Xbox/Nintendo fan salts, and people who have not learned how to accept peoples opinion who differ from those. Yes UC4 has some of the best Third person gameplay out there, which makes the gameplay complaints more laughable.

I admit that even as a not-so-big fan of Uncharted, 4 was still a very good game. Getting it GOTY shouldn't be too surprising because it's well... Good.

Don't forget guys, Bayonetta 2 is GOTY here, and it's a Wii U exclusive. Personally I thought it was one of the better games released that year.

 

[Struct09]

I'm just happy to see DOOM get so much love, that game is something special

 

[Sgtpepper89]

I only bought 3 games from 2016 last year, BF1, SFV and the wowexpansion. Gotta finish the backlog first. The only top 20 game thats on my to buy list right now is the Witness. I truly am a filthy puzzle game casual:<

 

[timetokill]

How is Overwatch not a new IP?

This is being resolved. Please be patient.

 

[onemanasylum]

And TLOU sold like 1/5 of that with luck?

Got lower scores.

Yet, it demolished it in terms of GOTY awards.

That has nothing to do with what you said, how did RDR resonate with gamers more then GTA V?