UnionVGF Predicts: Game of the Year 2015

Where are the Game of the Year awards going at the end of this year? (two votes)

  • Total voters
    33
  • Poll closed .
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This_Hard_Land

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Sep 11, 2013
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We're a little more than a month away from the start of this years high profile game season (September 1st). Although it's not always super clear, it seems like most years, one or two games rise to the top to become the industries consensus pick as Games of the Year for that year. The last three years looked like this...

2012: Journey/The Walking Dead
2013: Grand Theft Auto V/The Last of Us
2014: Shadow of Mordor/Dragon Age Inquisition

So close your eyes and listen closely to what your body is telling you. What one or two games do you think ultimately has the best chance to be the most critically lauded games of this year?
 
Shadow of Mordor may have been good but Forza Horizon 2 was more critically praised also Meta's higher (86 vs. 84).
 
I'm guessing it'll be between the Witcher 3 and Fallout 4 with the edge probably going to Fallout 4.

I seriously doubt a racing game would take GOTY, and I don't know why you would even put Halo 5 on the list. Halo will never win GOTY; too many gamers and gaming media are jaded towards the franchise. Rise of the Tomb Raider would have to be well beyond amazing to even make a dent in this category, in my opinion. XCOM 2 and Persona 5 don't have a chance either. Bloodborne looks cool (I haven't played it), but I doubt that it and MGS V have the staying power to compete with the Witcher 3 or Fallout 4.
 
Oblong said:
Shadow of Mordor may have been good but Forza Horizon 2 was more critically praised also Meta's higher (86 vs. 84).
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Shadow of Mordor received significantly more Game of the Year awards from various gaming media outlets throughout the industry.
 
Oblong said:
Shadow of Mordor may have been good but Forza Horizon 2 was more critically praised also Meta's higher (86 vs. 84).
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Kind of surprising to see Mordor win so many awards with such a low metacritic score. Meanwhile you have Smash, Bayonetta 2, Dark Souls 2, and Shovel Knight all above 90.

I think the betting odds for this year would be Witcher 3>Fallout 4>MGS5>Bloodborne

Battlefront is probably a more likely candidate than most of the games in the poll
 
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Gonna have to wait this one out, but I'd wager Witcher 3 and Fallout 4 will duke it out. Critically, I think Fallout 4 will win the majority of industry GOTY awards just due in part of when its coming out ( gamers tend to have short memories) and what it is ( Anticipated Sequel from Bethesda)
 
I did my vote based on what has been played so far. I can't comment on unreleased games until I play them.
 
yankeessuck said:
Kind of surprising to see Mordor win so many awards with such a low metacritic score. Meanwhile you have Smash, Bayonetta 2, Dark Souls 2, and Shovel Knight all above 90.

I think the betting odds for this year would be Witcher 3>Fallout 4>MGS5>Bloodborne

Battlefront is probably a more likely candidate than most of the games in the poll
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Battlefront is going to get ripped to shreds.
 
Fallout 4 will win from the general media but I voted Halo 5. I think it may end up being a refreshing sequel from a franchise that had high burnout.

I think the love for Witcher 3 decreased with time. It's a great game but even many members of the gaming media admitted to getting burnt out and quitting before any real payoff.
 
yankeessuck said:
Battlefield 4 was broken and didn't even review poorly.
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Do I even need to point out why that is?

You do know that the PC, PS4, X1 reviews were all based off an EA multi-day review event, right? So EA can control and limit any negative expereince. Even without that, 1 server is enough to ensure the reviewers have a good experience during the review process.
 
I think Witcher 3 and Fallout 4 will be the front-runners. There is a bias toward games that release around the end of the year, so I can see Fallout 4 walking away with more awards, even if they are equal in quality.

The runner-up tier would be Bloodborne, Halo 5, MGS V, and Rise of the Tomb Raider -- all of which are/will be good games, but not grand or different enough to really stand out and capture a majority of the GOTY awards.
 
Andy said:
I think Witcher 3 and Fallout 4 will be the front-runners. There is a bias toward games that release around the end of the year, so I can see Fallout 4 walking away with more awards, even if they are equal in quality.

The runner-up tier would be Bloodborne, Halo 5, MGS V, and Rise of the Tomb Raider -- all of which are/will be good games, but not grand or different enough to really stand out and capture a majority of the GOTY awards.
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Show me the receipts gif (too soon?)

Is there any empirical data that shows games released at the end of the year receive a disproportionate amount of awards based on their quality? I think you see so many GotY winners at the end of the year because publishers release their heavy hitters at that time.

Also, the Union is sleeping on The Phantom Pain so much. Based on all the hands on impressions we've seen, I'd be absolutely shocked if it Metacritics at anything less than a 94. It's Kojima's last Metal Gear game. It wraps up the saga. Its gameplay is more of a revolution than evolution in terms of design. I think we're getting our first game of the generation in that one.
 
MGSV will be in the 70's on metacritic, just like the Ground Zeroes that is connected to it. It's a fail game.
 
I think MGS5 looks good. I think the series is suffering backlash for a lot of reasons. The story will need to make more sense and have closure now that Kojima is gone. Otherwise beating it will feel unsatisfactory.
 
OneBadMutha said:
I think MGS5 looks good. I think the series is suffering backlash for a lot of reasons. The story will need to make more sense and have closure now that Kojima is gone. Otherwise beating it will feel unsatisfactory.
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It's honestly only receiving backlash here. Neogaf is going nuts over it and critics who have played it are giving off a "this might be GotY" vibe.

Either way, September 1st can't get here fast enough.
 
This_Hard_Land said:
It's honestly only receiving backlash here. Neogaf is going nuts over it and critics who have played it are giving off a "this might be GotY" vibe.

Either way, September 1st can't get here fast enough.
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I am at Gaf. We are not going nuts over it.
 
This_Hard_Land said:
Show me the receipts gif (too soon?)

Is there any empirical data that shows games released at the end of the year receive a disproportionate amount of awards based on their quality? I think you see so many GotY winners at the end of the year because publishers release their heavy hitters at that time.
Click to expand...

No, I don't have a link to research that establishes that. It may be out there, but I can't cite it.

It just makes sense to me. Things that people are exposed to more recently stand out more in memory than those that happened 6 months ago. Plus, with something released 6 months ago, there has been time for the initial buzz/excitement to wear off and for people to take a more sober look, whereas with something just released, you're still in the honeymoon period.

I think that's partly why DA:I captured so many GOTY awards. Part of that was it was a weak year, but it was also about the timing. At vote time, which was about 6 weeks after the game's release, you heard a lot of very positive buzz. Six months later, most of what you heard was complaints.
 
You lot are all misguided.

GOTY 2015-- and every year that follows--will be the PS4 Mega Exclusive Godzilla game.
 
Andy said:
No, I don't have a link to research that establishes that. It may be out there, but I can't cite it.

It just makes sense to me. Things that people are exposed to more recently make stand out more in memory than those that happened 6 months ago. Plus, with something released 6 months ago, there has been time for the initial buzz/excitement to wear off and for people to take a more sober look, whereas with something just released, you're still in the honeymoon period.

I think that's partly why DA:I captured so many GOTY awards. Part of that was it was a weak year, but it was also about the timing. At vote time, which was about 6 weeks after the game's release, you heard a lot of very positive buzz. Six months later, most of what you heard was complaints.
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I can actually buy this.

I actually have no idea why I challenged your original notion.
 
Kvally said:
I am at Gaf. We are not going nuts over it.
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There's a MGSV thread on the main page of neogaf every day. There's one up there right now discussing a promotional poster that has how many views/responses to it?

It's arguably the neogafs most discussed upcoming game.
 
Fallout- in addition to the release the date the fact it wasn't teased for years is going to help. Not many AAA games get announced 6 months before release and has the confidence of being the biggest game of the year despite the fact everyone knew it would eventually drop at some point.
 
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