Game of the Year

[civvver]

oh yeah I took long breaks. It was actually sherbz who bumped this out of nowhere early in the year. I do most of my posting at work, I know, naughty naughty, so when I'm on vacation and holidays I don't usually update or when I get too busy at work to surf the web.

This couldn't have been done without contributions of you guys. We got some nice back and forth on the merits of rpgs and open world vs directed path for sure. It was probably the best discussion in the thread.

 

[Kyriakos]

Lol, 2004 had the worst result

 

[Arakhor]

At least we got a (wrong) result then, unlike 2014.

 

[ls612]

If 2015 was the easiest GOTY decision in a long time 2016 is IMO the hardest. This year we got XCOM 2, Stellaris, and Civ VI for strategy, Doom and Dishonored 2 for great shooters, Planet Coaster, and Blood and Wine for the Witcher, which is itself the length of an entire AAA game. I'm torn as to what to choose.

 

[Synobun]

TBH I'd pick Stardew Valley as GOTY for 2016.

 

[cardgame]

I don't think I've even played anything that came out in 2016 except DOOM and Squad (still EA)

 

[Arakhor]

Stellaris for 2016, easily.

 

[CivCube]

2016 - Offworld Trading Company

 

[Akka]

Woah, this reminds me I should vote for 2015, even if it's a given.
As for 2016, it's a pretty poor year... So far, from the top of my head, Stellaris is probably going to be my pick, and it's a decent by heavily flawed game (though it's coming along beautifully, the habit of Paradox to pile up game mechanics in DLC actually works when the game is barebone to begin with ). There is just nothing noticeable as full-fledged games.

 

[ls612]

Darkest Dungeon was another game I really enjoyed this year, but I'm not sure that it is GOTY material.

 

[Quintillus]

I think Offworld is the only game I've played this year that actually came out this year. There's just too much to play from previous years to bother with brand new stuff. Good game, but it's likely that I'll eventually have a different favorite from 2016.

The game of the year for me, in terms of what I played the most, would be Rocket League. I think I played it more than EU4 this year, and it was both a new game for me and a quick favorite.

My most-played games this year in approximate order would be:

- Rocket League
- EU4 (mostly in Q1 and July, but way down from 2013 - 2015 overall)
- Rome II Total War
- Civilization III (mostly Q4; the old game on the list that climbed a lot)
- Victoria II

With a few others also having a decent showing, notably Deathtrap, Killing Floor 1, and CKII (bookending the year; I play it more when the Songs of Yuletide play and soon thereafter). I played a little bit of Civ V this year, but far less than III, and it looks like I may not have played Civ4 at all in 2016. Haven't bought VI yet.

 

[sherbz]

Well yes i guess 2016 could be included

My vote for 2016 is, by a considerable distance, XCOM 2. Brilliant game and utterly compelling. Especially with all the mods out there now. I am looking forward to a hopeful announcement of an expansion in 2017 now that Civ 6 is out of the way.

A close second would be Doom. They actually managed to create a game that has the spirit of what made the original fun. But this time with excellent graphics.

Have not played Stellaris. I was put off by the slightly stale reviews. So i bought MOO instead.

 

[Arakhor]

Have not played Stellaris. I was put off by the slightly stale reviews. So i bought MOO instead.

I think you got the short end of that deal (and I pre-ordered the new MoO).

 

[Akka]

Well, TBH I've yet to play a large amount of 2016 games. Many of them are neither available on GoG nor *cough*availablesbyothermeans*cough*, and I've had a pretty busy schedule this year leading to not playing as much as usual.
I'll may be able to vote in six monthes or so

 

[civvver]

I dunno if I've played a single 2016 release. I guess Grim Dawn officially released in 2016, but it's been early access for a while and I only played a few hours. I played SPAZ2 a few hours and hated it. Will try to pick up later. Oh I guess spaz2 is still listed early access.

I refuse to buy civ6 until it's under $15 so might be a while.

 

[sherbz]

I think you got the short end of that deal (and I pre-ordered the new MoO).

MOO isnt bad in my opinion. But it also isnt especially "wow". I basically think all of it is average to good, with the exception of combat, which is poor. Combat should have been either turn based or fully cinematic. And ground combat should definitely be cinematic (rather than nothing at all). It does have some nice bits to it though. Diplomacy actually makes sense and the voice acting is great. I also like how Antarens act as a limiting factor on run away AI or human players. But over all the game feels a bit shallow. I do like though how the developer seems to still be interested in developing and improving the game.

 

[sherbz]

I dunno if I've played a single 2016 release. I guess Grim Dawn officially released in 2016, but it's been early access for a while and I only played a few hours. I played SPAZ2 a few hours and hated it. Will try to pick up later. Oh I guess spaz2 is still listed early access.

I refuse to buy civ6 until it's under $15 so might be a while.

It might be a bit better by then. I think it has some nice ideas, but doesnt quite get there. My feelings on civ are similar to my feelings on MOO actually. But Civ 6 had probably 50 times the budget of MOO, so that makes me more inclined to be harsh on it. Especially when they were charging what they were for it.

 

[civvver]

It's not really an indictment on civ6, I just refuse to buy any game over that kind of price now cus they discount so heavily so quickly (unless it's a freakin rock star title, gta5 will be $15 around 2020), and I am overloading with stuff to play. Nothing like buying a game, not playing it for a year and it shows up in some humble bundle.

 

[cardgame]

Actually I think GTA was $20 sometime within the past week

 

[Acken]

How's alien isolation? I never played it or heard that much about it.

It's a pretty good game in the survival horror genre. Really did a good job capturing the ambiance of the first Alien movie.

For 2016 I'll vote Overwatch. Probably not very popular on CFC but I'm pretty sure it's the game that will have the most influence in the industry this year. It's also my top pick in terms of hour played in 2016 which says a lot on the rather mediocre quality of civ6.
A close second would be Dark Souls 3 for me.
I still cannot vote for XCOM2 dispite really wanting to when looking back at how much a mess it was in optimization, slow patching etc. what a let down and waste of potential.
I haven't yet played Doom and Stellaris ended up boring to me.