Game of the Year Thread '21: Votes Must Be Submitted in the Form of NFTs

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fridge corn: Apr 2, 2003; NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN

VideoGames posted:

gently caress us already?’
poo poo? I am so loving done.’
anyone loving else.
loving hate them.

Good lord veeg

# ¿ Dec 12, 2021 21:36

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 19, 2024 15:23

fridge corn: Apr 2, 2003; NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN

Rarity posted:

Perhaps it's the people who like FF9's fault

# ¿ Dec 17, 2021 09:25

fridge corn: Apr 2, 2003; NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN

In 2019 I voted for Shadowbringers despite only being halfway through Stormblood at that point :ssh:

# ¿ Dec 17, 2021 09:26

fridge corn: Apr 2, 2003; NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN

Will I finish metro exodus in time? Will it feature on my list? Stay tuned and find out in the big reveal on christmas eve!

# ¿ Dec 17, 2021 09:55

fridge corn: Apr 2, 2003; NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN

Escobarbarian posted:

Speaking as a non-FFXIV player separating the expansions doesn’t really seem to me to make any sense at all?

Think of them as like sequels in the same series. FFXIV-2, FFXIV-3, etc

# ¿ Dec 18, 2021 13:21

fridge corn: Apr 2, 2003; NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN

drat fine list Boat, and no expense spared with the snazzy graphics! :golfclap:

# ¿ Dec 20, 2021 15:39

fridge corn: Apr 2, 2003; NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN

BeanpolePeckerwood posted:

Yeah, you got me pinned. I'll take the thrashing

Super list and write-up as usual BP. Our lists share 3 games in common! I'm gonna have to start writing mine up soon if I'm gonna have it posted by tomorrow

# ¿ Dec 23, 2021 07:44

fridge corn: Apr 2, 2003; NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN

Happy holidays goons one and all! I hope everyone is enjoying much deserved time off work and is spending time with their loved ones. Here in the Corn household we do the holidays a bit differently but I am more than happy to guide you through our celebrations.

The Airing of Grievances - in which we detail all the ways we have been disappointed this year. The following are games which not only did not make the cut but were not even close to making the cut. These are games which did not gel or click, failed to impress, and were discarded unfinished likely to never be played again

Deathloop - I broke my rule of buying games full price with this one, and it started off strong - easily the nicest and smoothest playing Arkane game I've played. And it was fun in the beginning, especially invading good friends when everyone else was playing it, but it quickly became clear that the main conceit of the game was paper thin, and the gameplay rote and when rumours of the ending twist being so dumb as to be insulting, I quickly lost interest. Sorry Arkane, you've failed to impress on too many occasions. I'll know better for next time.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon - my only previous experience with the Yakuza series is with Yakuza 0, and I found that game mildly charming but ultimately hampered by a tiny boring map and an interminably bad brawler combat system. Being a fan of jrpgs of old, I thought the move to a run-based combat system might actually make the game less painful to play. I was wrong. RGG studios somehow managed to make the combat even worse. Sorry Yakuza fans, I can see why you like the games, but they are just not for me.

Hades - Last years GoTY winner, cheap, and out on PS5, so I had ought to try it out. What had I to lose? Well, several hours of my time apparently. This one really perplexed me cuz of all the things that gets praised about this game, I found those things to be lacking the most. The art style is sickly cartoonish. Too bright bold colours glare and clash with the mundanity of the design. The rooms are bland and empty, and the enemies are stale and monotonous. The gameplay felt stiff and wooden (is it a bad port on the PS5?) and the thing I hear being lauded the most about the game - its voice work - was perhaps the most disappointing of all. The whole production suffers from some very bad direction, the mixing is poor and lines are rushed across the board. It's very distracting. Perhaps it's a matter of perspective. If you play mostly indie or Nintendo games, I can see Hades looking like a premium offering, but to me I was expecting more.

And now onto the

Feats of Strength - games that have proven their worth in combat with all the other games to come out on top, shining, glistening, and glorious

10. Trials of Mana

This was such a treat when it could have just been another quick phone-in. Just the right amount of detail and care and attention went in to updating this game for modern sensibilities and boy did they knock it out of the park. Ostensibly it is still the same simple campy snes era jrpg as the original and it retains the warm feeling of a Christmas panto. However visually and gameplay wise it is stunning. Of course the graphics aren't bleeding edge or even the slightest bit noteworthy other than it captures the style of the original mana games perfectly. Almost as if it it's actually the same game but with a massive resolution enhancement. And the gameplay is quick and snappy exactly how the original mana games felt to play (although not that they'd feel that way if you played them now). This is how you do a remake. More of this please.

9. Cyberpunk 2077
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxijOlfc8G0

Not much needs to be said about Cyberpunk 2077. By the time I finally played it, this summer on PS5, it was running more or less fairly well. It hardly crashed for me and looked pretty good. My main complaint about the game is that it tries to be too many things at once. Still though, for the spectacle of it all, and perhaps because of and not despite of all the game's numerous teething problems, I found myself enjoying it. The first person nature of the game is perhaps a bit jarring because you are V, but V is also themself and often reacts to things in ways more human than most video game protagonists, and I suppose you can get quite meta on the whole idea what with the way the narrative pans out. The game is after all at its core, about someone with someone else inside their head. I found myself thinking about this often while playing Cyberpunk 2077, and as a result I was content to let V just be V, and let them play their life out rather than try too hard to impose my will on them. The game has a satisfying conclusion.

8. Astro's Playroom

Thinking about all these games as I write out this list, I have a feeling that I may have ranked this one a bit too highly. However, as I'm typing this out and remembering how it felt to unbox that PS5 in January this year and loading this little game up, the sheer joy and wonder I felt at the possibilities of the new console generation come flooding back to me. Astro's Playroom performs a brilliant trick of being both a fanfare heralding in the new, and also a celebration of the old with every level a wondrous trip though Playstation's history. I'm not keen on the idea of having such strong feelings of nostalgia for the products of a faceless megacorperation such as Sony, but having had every Playstation console since the very first one, i would be remiss to think it it wasnt a very big part of me.

7. It Takes Two

My fiancee, Lady Corn, or Fridgelina as she is more affectionately know as, has slowly over time begun to show more interest in gaming. However, due differences in skill or preference it's not always often we find something that we can play and enjoy together. Luckily for us, It Takes Two slots perfectly into the middle of the venn diagram of our gaming preferences. Delightfully whimsical while also deeply serious in theme, It Takes Two delivers a gaming experience like no other, at times platformer, brawler, or 3rd person shooter, the game is constantly switching things up and giving you new things to do and puzzles to solves. Playing this with my beloved was certainly one of the highlights of the year.

6. Metro: Exodus

A surprise last minute inclusion as I only finished the game last week. An absolutely beautiful game with some breathtaking locations and a lovely cast of characters. It is gritty and dark and tragic but ultimately a hopeful one. The game plays with a kind of opaque morality system that doesnt often get used in first person shooter games and as a result it forces you to think more about your place in this ruined world and your ultimate objective, rather than just finding things to place in the sights of your gun. The final level of this game is a triumph of design and is hands down one of the most intense, harrowing, and exhilarating video game experiences I've ever encountered.

5. Divinity: Original Sin 2

I always had a love for the old infinity engine games and other similar crpgs such as arcanum or whatever. I loved the freedom of systems and builds and often would spend just as much time in character creation and trainers as I would the games proper. I think a large part of that could be put down to the fact that many of those games just werent very nice to play. Real time with pause was an abomination. Many other titles were buggy, or too obscure in their mechanics. Not the case with Divinity: Original Sin 2. Straightforward turn based combat, clear and simple ability descriptions. It's as if somebody pulled the veil off all those old crpgs to reveal what they should have been all along. A great soundtrack, decent voice acting, Divinity: Original Sin 2 sets a new standard for crpgs and breathes new life into the genre.

4. Monster Hunter World: Iceborne

I had never played a Monster Hunter Game before. It was late January and I had just gotten a PS5, I had also just begun a 6 week furlough from work. I had a lot of time on my hands and there was Monster Hunter World staring at me on the PS+ Collection screen (so was Persona 5, which I also played...). It was an absolutely incomprehensible experience to start with, but with a little help and some coaching sessions from some excellent posters (shout out to BeanpolePeckerwood and Casnorf), it suddenly clicked and this great and massive game was laid out before me. There is something curious about the way Monster Hunter World plays, it harkens back to an age before control schemes were more or less standardised, when developers were more willing to try something new, either for the fun of it, or from necessity, and I suppose Monster Hunter has its roots in that era. I have never played a game quite like Monster Hunter World, but I certainly hope to again.

3. Disco Elysium

The GoTY winner from 2019, and recently released on PS5, so much had been said about this game so of course I had to give it a whirl. Unlike some other SA favourites, this one actually stuck the landing for me. Its thoughtful in its quiet, dreary soundtrack, and the voice work is some of the best I've ever heard in a video game; every single character is brought to a vibrant and full life by their actors, it's really quite incredible. A deliciously somber and pensive mood pervades everything about this game and gives the setting a such a great weight that I've only ever seen in a handful of games before. And despite all that weight, the game retains the ability to be outrageously funny as well. Disco Elysium is a singular and unforgettable experience.

2. Ghost of Tsushima

At its core, it's just an open world map icon checklist game, but to be honest, I quite like that kind of game, especially if its done well. And oh boy is Ghost of Tsushima done well. From its Kurosawa-inspired cinematic language to its slick combat and controls, Ghost of Tsushima is just a rollicking good time. This is video gaming at it's most entertaining. The sort of turn the lights down and grab some popcorn type of gaming. Theres lots of valid criticism of this game, especially of it's fairly rote narrative and characters, but nevermind all that. Sometimes all you need it's some mindless action and good clean fun. Gorgeous to look at and gorgeous to play, runs like a dream on the PS5. It doesnt get much better than this....

Or does it???

Its...

A Festivus Miracle!!!!

1. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27pjs17sODc

It shouldnt be much of a surprise when this game ends up as someones number 1. This game does everything right. The controls are perfect, the level of challenge is perfect, the sound design is perfect. Fromsoft are masters at creating a singular focused experience and for this game they got even more singular and even more focused. The combat is so expertly tuned that I doubt we will ever see a game quite like Sekiro for a long time. This is a game that makes its player feel both powerful and vulnerable at the same time. Each victory is built upon training and lessons learned from previous encounters but instead of being quantified in abstract nonsense such as EXP, it is codified in the muscle memory of the player, and winning is a testament to the players skill, and not from grinding or gaming systems. There is not a game even close that gives the sense of satisfaction and achievement that Sekiro gives its players that persevere to overcome its challenges.

Simple list
10. Trials of Mana
9. Cyberpunk 2077
8. Astro's Playroom
7. It Takes Two
6. Metro: Exodus
5. Divinity: Original Sin 2
4. Monster Hunter World: Iceborne
3. Disco Elysium
2. Ghost of Tsushima
1. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

fridge corn fucked around with this message at 22:17 on Dec 24, 2021

# ¿ Dec 24, 2021 22:14

fridge corn: Apr 2, 2003; NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN

BeanpolePeckerwood posted:

yall lists are v. good.

hey fridge, what was the furthest you got to in iceborne?

I honestly can't remember. Somewhere in the middle? I kept meaning to get back into it, but I never did. Guess were all waiting for a sequel now

# ¿ Dec 25, 2021 08:39

fridge corn: Apr 2, 2003; NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN

BeanpolePeckerwood posted:

i will not reinstall. i will not reinstall. i will not reinstall...

I think I was waiting for veeg to start playing it to jump back in lol

# ¿ Dec 25, 2021 11:36

fridge corn: Apr 2, 2003; NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN

Some bold choices there

# ¿ Dec 27, 2021 09:52

fridge corn: Apr 2, 2003; NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN

Where is the tally? Looks like I got 8 out of 10 right but none in the correct spot

# ¿ Dec 27, 2021 10:47

fridge corn: Apr 2, 2003; NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN

CaptainRat posted:

I would be shocked if anyone else had Brigandine on their list or if anyone else was even thinking about that game at all but the rest of my list was pretty standard.

I actually think about that game quite a bit and I'm just waiting for it to go on sale for a reasonable price

# ¿ Dec 28, 2021 23:00

fridge corn: Apr 2, 2003; NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN

My gotys werent very musically oriented but two standout that are seared into my brain:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAsIefETSBI

And

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzASEnOGMMY

Listening to disco elysiums soundtrack again is making me think i should've ranked it higher :|

# ¿ Jan 1, 2022 21:56

fridge corn: Apr 2, 2003; NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN

Every year I think about getting a switch and every year I never do

# ¿ Jan 2, 2022 14:20

fridge corn: Apr 2, 2003; NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN

Veeg is a gamey boi

# ¿ Jan 8, 2022 09:40

fridge corn: Apr 2, 2003; NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN

Ff14 has been in the top 10 for the last 3 years tho*

*I have not fact checked this

# ¿ Jan 8, 2022 13:26

fridge corn: Apr 2, 2003; NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN

Bust Rodd posted:

Goons: “It’s not a MMO! It’s just like a regular final fantasy game, it doesn’t have ANY MMO BULLSHIT!”

This is the line goons keep parroting across all of games about FFXIV, and it is a boldfaced lie. There is stupid mmo bull poo poo clogging up your screen and obscuring your character and destroying your visual real estate literally from the moment the game “starts” by unceremoniously dumping your character in the middle of a big MMO hub city with a screen clogged with menus and chat logs. I’m not saying it’s a bad game, or even not a good game, but it is definitely 100% an mmo from the word go and anyone acting otherwise is sus!!!!

Good to have you back, Bust