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The New Yorker: The Best Video Games of 2015
- Thread starter Tripon
- Start date
Jonneh3003
Banned
Wow, it's missing some games I would consider like Ori but man this is the most compelling game of the year list i've seen from a professional site. Can't say i've heard of all these games but the ones I know deserve to be there.
Nope. Only on PC and iOS for now.
OrbitalBeard
Member
I'm ok with this.
Shake Appeal
Member
In 2015, the random indie games are the truly excellent games.
Also, this list has two blockbuster AAA titles in the top five.
ReginaldXIV
Member
Sunless Sea is awesome... Until you inevitably die to poor RNG and it becomes a boring grind trying to regain all the resources you lost.
That's a shame, it says android on his list.
Confused Cheeseburger
Member
That salt.
It's like life but more forgiving
Stabby McSter
Member
I don't think I've ever heard of #1. The New Yorker has more cred than I do. 
Hot Coldman
Banned
oh my god
No. It's just a chap who plays games for a living, therefore he casts a REALLY WIDE NET for the purposes of informing YOU, the (potential) reader, about cool games you may have been unaware. Some of those games happen to be the games he enjoyed more than most others.
Oh, and let's be clear: recommending a game called "Dr. Langeskov, the Tiger, and the Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist" isn't someone trying to be cool, it's someone succeeding.
Lanrutcon
Member
When used in a GOTY list?
ItsTheNew
I believe any game made before 1997 is "essentially cave man art."
Since everyone is so quick to assume I hate indies, I completed undertale, meat boy, and xeo drifter this year and liked all of them. I'm just skeptical on the amount of AAA titles being dropped or not mentioned.
Can't say that was ever a problem for me, but I played super safe and never died once I had enough resources to care about.
When I first started out? Died a bunch of course, but that's no big deal.
This is where it could be a problem, if these are truly the best 10 games he's played this year, then cool.
But if they are just a list of the coolest games that you may not have heard of this year, then.....
It is coming to Android but it still in development. Definitely recommend to check it out on PC or on Android once it comes out. Really addicting and good game.
Shake Appeal
Member
Sunless Sea has a bunch of threads on NeoGAF, and the OT went to several pages at least. That's not exactly obscure. I haven't played all of these games, but I've heard or read about all of them, and it's surprising to me that anyone that browses GAF regularly hasn't.
Razzorn34
Member
But, you seem to also assume that being AAA automatically means a better game. Which couldn't be further from the truth these days. If AAA games would put all of that extra money into better gameplay, then this would probably be true much of the time. Sadly, all we get much of the time is better looking AAA games with crap actual gameplay.
I've got exactly 2 AAA titles in my GOTY Top 10 list. I don't write for a magazine or website. I'm not looking for clicks. I'm not trying to look cool.
I just had more fun with idies this year. Nothing I set out to do. It's simply where the most action was this year.
Not a surprise there. Splatoon is fantastic.
Not everyone cares about AAA games or thinks they're better than smaller titles. Plenty of people genuinely find them sort of boring. It's t the point where it's like blockbuster films and smaller movies on end of year lists.
ItsTheNew
I believe any game made before 1997 is "essentially cave man art."
But Witcher 3 had better gameplay than rapture tho.
Magic Mushroom
Member
Not every critic liked it either. See Rich Stanton's tweets for the Game Awards for example.
Demoskinos
Member
I have zero clue what Sunless Sea is.
Hot Coldman
Banned
No, I didn't mean to imply that's why Simon wrote the list. It's clearly meant to be a list of the best games of the year in the writer's estimation.
I just resent the notion that it's an exercise in being trendy. Like, nah, you will always get far more out of even just the assumption that the piece is 100% sincere.
Prevolition
Member
Decent list. It's nice to see someone with a top ten that isn't the same as the others with a need to "at least throw in [AAA title]".
Wow, it's been such a crazy year for games, I haven't even heard of their number 1 pick. The list is pretty far from my own tastes but it's cool to see so many smaller games be talked about on such a huge platform, especially for the devs. I doubt From software or CD Project Red would care too much about being given an accolade in the New York Times, but for the handful of people who worked on Her Story, I imagine it means a whole lot them.
A cool list, it's unfortunate people on the internet don't know how to handle people with different opinions. I mean if he didn't like Witcher/Fallout/Life is Strange he must have an agenda right? He can't just have his own outlook on videogames, what if that invalidates my opinion? It's sad really.
A cool list, it's unfortunate people on the internet don't know how to handle people with different opinions. I mean if he didn't like Witcher/Fallout/Life is Strange he must have an agenda right? He can't just have his own outlook on videogames, what if that invalidates my opinion? It's sad really.
"Hidetaka Miyazakis latest finds treasure within cliché. The aesthetic is familiar gothic horror. The diseased town of Yharnam, with its blood-slicked cobblestones, flickering oil lamps, and spindly iron fencing, is inhabited by assorted eldritch monstersrabid Dobermans, hoe-wielding peasants, fat Hitchcockian crowswhich you attack using a Victorian blade-cum-blunderbuss. The games structure, however, is idiosyncratic. As in Miyazakis earlier games, Yharnam pieces together like a grand and elegant contraption, interlocking in unexpected but pleasing ways via corridors and ladders. The directors interest in arcane storytelling, told in half-whispers by the characters you meet and the props you find, captivates, as does the games combat. Bloodborne subverts the prevailing wisdom that contemporary video games must mollycoddle their players and quash mystery."
New Yorker never disappoints. They have such interesting writers.
New Yorker never disappoints. They have such interesting writers.
His paragraph explaining his picks also said that he picked games that he thought were particularly "innovative" and based on that criteria, I can see why The Witcher 3 was not included and some of these more experimental games were.
Just because it didn't make his personal list doesn't mean it's any less good, it just means that, for whatever reason, it didn't meet his criteria for GoTY.
Just because it didn't make his personal list doesn't mean it's any less good, it just means that, for whatever reason, it didn't meet his criteria for GoTY.
I swear, the lack of cultural awareness of some of the posters on this board is STAGGERING. Not being aware of The New Yorker or assuming they're publishing clickbait Top 10s is amazing to me.
Cool list -- lots of stuff I'm not familiar with. I like seeing a variety of things get recognition.
Cool list -- lots of stuff I'm not familiar with. I like seeing a variety of things get recognition.
Parkin is one of the few great writers out there, really neat list.
Enjoyed Sunless Sea quite a bit, really well written but the moment to moment sailing about can feel a little draining after a while.
He also gave The Witcher 3 five stars; http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/may/13/witcher-3-wild-hunt-review-xbox-ps4-pc
Enjoyed Sunless Sea quite a bit, really well written but the moment to moment sailing about can feel a little draining after a while.
He also gave The Witcher 3 five stars; http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/may/13/witcher-3-wild-hunt-review-xbox-ps4-pc
CenturionKei
Banned
Sunless Sea is probably one of the best spiritual successors to Lovecraft's work, that along with Bloodborne. Completely deserved its spot.
thestopsign
Member
He explicitly states that he is looking for games that expand the medium. Games like Witcher, Halo, and Fallout all are rather iterative. Additionally he also states about the sheer quantity of games to sift through and how it is impossible to play everything. The fact that he is bringing up games that people haven't heard of is commendable. It gives you all a chance to try something that he believes is worthy of your time that you might not have otherwise considered.
I completely agree. The slow speed plays against the rogue-like mechanics.
Which is why my speed mod is necessary!
https://steamcommunity.com/app/304650/discussions/1/520518688942394359/
(basically, the sailing portion approximately runs at 3x speed).
Disaster Nebraska
Banned
What an interesting list. Glad to see so much variety there.
Yes, he has an agenda. To list out his favorite games of 2015.
Actually no his agenda was to RUIN GAMING AS WE KNOW IT! QUICK, TO TWITTER TO EXPOSE THE COLLUSION!!!!
I find it kind of odd that Witcher 3 didn't even make list. It's not my personal GOTY or anything but I still think it should certainly be up there with the best games of the year. Even if you don't like the game you have to respect how epic it is in so many areas.
Maybe they're just trying to be edgy or the people involved didn't like the Witcher 3. Oh well the game is certainly getting the recognition it deserves elsewhere.
Maybe they're just trying to be edgy or the people involved didn't like the Witcher 3. Oh well the game is certainly getting the recognition it deserves elsewhere.
Oh yes, the New Yorker posted this list for the edge
I was trying to be sarcastic but after re-reading it clearly didn't come off that way.
The Lamonster
Member
I don't know man...any top 10 list for 2015 that doesn't include Fallout 4 or Arkham Knight kinda comes off as a joke list. IMO of course.
exactly
exactly