2016 Community Game of the Year - Results posted (at last)!

Thanks for all the tallying Clock, great job as usual!

I'll have to start buying some of the top 10 games like Titanfall 2, Stardew Valley & really get into XCOM 2 this year.

Eleima wrote:

Dishonored 2 didn't make the top ten?? **weeps**

It's #11. I think it was 4 or 5 points behind The Division, but I don't have that info in front of me right now.

I actually played half of the games that got on the top 10 this year, though Xcom 2 was barely touched. Waiting for Stardew Valley on Switch.

Honestly, I'm not surprised Overwatch is at #1, and honestly I'm pretty okay with that. It doesn't suck me in every time I play it, but I have a good time whenever I do. It's a well designed game whose post-game breakdown is a great way of trying to make sure everyone is having fun. In fact, it is the only thing I'd say it does better than Splatoon in terms of accessibility, as for all of Splatoon's excellence in making sure anyone can have fun, it still ends each game with compared rankings. Overwatch hides all that so people are only focused on how well they did, which means you're only truly competing with yourself. To me, that's a bigger step in opening competitive multiplayer to a wider audience than seen superficially.

So while Overwatch isn't anywhere close to being my #1 (did I even mention it in my round-up?), it's a choice that I'm okay with because it does so much well.

Still think Titanfall 2 was the best single-player shooter of last year as Doom had some tonal inconsistencies and didn't know when to just be over, but that there are at least two games on the top ten that I voted on is pretty nice.


As for next year, curious to see where Breath of the Wild and Nier: Automata end up sitting... oh, who am I kidding, Nier's not even gonna make the top ten. I feel like Breath of the Wild has a chance in terms of gameplay of at least making #10, but it's on the WiiU and the Switch, which means... it's got a limited number of people playing it. And all those people would have to vote it as #1 in order to get it on the list at all, I feel like.

I may be putting the cart before the horse by predicting Mass Effect Andromeda as winner of 2017 already. But if Bethesda pull another Fallout 4 and Elder Scrolls VI releases in the fall... well that'll be an interesting twist.

Thank you, Clocky. 2017 has now officially gotten underway.

I'm past the competitive multiplayer stage so I'll likely never get to Overwatch.

The Witcher 3 loses out once more. It surprises me considering how well it is loved. Not wide reaching enough even for a multiplatform release, in tandem with its audience being split over two years clearly took its toll.

Thank you again Clocky for organizing this!

Dr.Ghastly wrote:

IMAGE(https://cdn.meme.am/cache/instances/folder183/500x/74949183.jpg)

IMAGE(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GL8QXYUKatA/T3ORe07boBI/AAAAAAAAA3g/WbX4xEzYmig/s320/the-rock-clapping.gif)

Gravey wrote:

That's the second multiplayer-only game in as many years. GWJ confirms it: singleplayer is dying. And a non-North American game still can't win. Sorry Witcher and Dark Souls 3, you never had a chance. Again.

Not sure if you're being serious or not, but the other slots are either single-player or games that received significantly more praise for their single-player campaigns than their multiplayer components.

Also, I fixed that last sentence for you.

I'm super pleased that a game I voted for this year made it on the list! (Stardew Valley)

RnRClown wrote:

The Witcher 3 loses out once more. It surprises me considering how well it is loved. Not wide reaching enough even for a multiplatform release, in tandem with its audience being split over two years clearly took its toll.

Keep in mind a bunch of those votes are for an expansion pack and not from new players.

The first time the game I voted #1 actually was #1.

Firewatch was completely off my radar until people started voting for it, and it's undoubtedly going to be on my list next year.

Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 is #1 on my "I can't believe nobody voted for this" list.

Thanks for all of the hard work Clocky. I'm disappointed Stellaris didn't sneak in there, but overall it seems like a solid list. It has reminded me I need to play Firewatch, and if for some bizarre reason I get the urge for a shooter, I should check out Titanfall 2.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 is #1 on my "I can't believe nobody voted for this" list.

I keep pimping it, but no one seems to care. *shrug* Their loss.

doubtingthomas396 wrote:

No Farming Simulator 16.

Sorry Aaron. We tried.

Still #1 in my heart!

Also, where the heck is Hitman? Have you all got amnesia?!

Aaron D. wrote:

Have you all got amnesia?!

That would explain the love for Geralt. Amnesiacs gotta stick together.

Hitman made the top 20, but I don't recall the exact rank. I'll try to post the full list today if I get a chance.

garion333 wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 is #1 on my "I can't believe nobody voted for this" list.

I keep pimping it, but no one seems to care. *shrug* Their loss. ;)

Sadly I had bought it on a holiday sale but didn't play it with my son until this weekend. Great game especially for a 8-year-old just learning to play shooters (just to be clear he only plays against bots).

Thanks Clocky as always for compiling the list! I realize I have a lot of new games to buy as about half of the top 10 aren't even in my library.

Thanks for doing this, Clock.

At least this year, I own one of the games on the list!

Spoiler:

The Witcher 3 still sits unopened. Maybe I should take it out of the plastic?

Gravey wrote:

Sorry Witcher, you never had a chance. Again.

There aren't that many games that do that well in successive years. #2 for 2015, and then #3 for 2016, is pretty damn impressive.

You didn't see Rocket League on this year's list, and I bet Overwatch won't be on 2017's.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 is #1 on my "I can't believe nobody voted for this" list.

I figure EA poisoned the well, with the other two PvZ offerings. (PvZ 2 and Garden Warfare 1.) Frequently, it seems like game sales reflect how well people liked the prior title, not the current one.

Personally, I don't even look at EA games anymore. I know that, if they're involved, they're going to screw it up somehow.

Malor wrote:
Gravey wrote:

Sorry Witcher, you never had a chance. Again.

There aren't that many games that do that well in successive years. #2 for 2015, and then #3 for 2016, is pretty damn impressive.

Most of the votes for The Witcher 3 were votes for the DLC. I haven't looked, but I also think that most of the people who voted it their #1 game this year also ranked it highly last year. This doesn't say anything to me about the relative quality of Rocket League or Overwatch. It tells me that people who like The Witcher really like The Witcher and were happy to find a reason to vote for it again. The fan base for that game here is not so broad as other games but it is vocal and passionate; it's very much like Dark Souls in that regard. (Also, without large paid expansions, I don't think most of the passionate Rocket League fans felt justified in voting twice.)

ccesarano wrote:

As for next year, curious to see where Breath of the Wild and Nier: Automata end up sitting... oh, who am I kidding, Nier's not even gonna make the top ten. I feel like Breath of the Wild has a chance in terms of gameplay of at least making #10, but it's on the WiiU and the Switch, which means... it's got a limited number of people playing it. And all those people would have to vote it as #1 in order to get it on the list at all, I feel like.

Now, while I foolishly predicted/wished NieR Automata will make our top 10 barely, I kinda think it has a better chance than Breath of the Wild making the list given that it's a Nintendo exclusive. I'll be interested to see where both end up on the list. I imagine they'll make the top 20.

How many people voted this year roughly, ClockworkHouse? Feel free to tell me to wait for all that raw data.

Eleima wrote:
Gravey wrote:

That's the second multiplayer-only game in as many years. GWJ confirms it: singleplayer is dying

Don't be so sure. The 2016 ESA report says "Fifty-four percent of the most frequent video game players report playing video games with others."

I would suggest that the multiplayer voting is going to be a bit more monolithic, and the larger number of singleplayer-focused games split the vote. If there was a complex runoff voting system or something (and I'm not suggesting that Clock do that), results might be different.

We also know that this community isn't representative of all gamers (in both preferences and owned platforms), and the way we vote will have an effect. Well-loved games like Dishonored 2 releasing close to the end of the year might have hurt it as the vote will split between 2016 and 2017. (I'd like to think Final Fantasy XV would have cracked the top 10 if it was timed differently.)

On the other hand, I won't disagree that there's been a trend from single to multiplayer.

Regardless of the results (not a single one of my choices was recognized) I can say that this thread has been a joy. It's great reading people's lists with justifications, and the weird fever dream of posts near the end had me laughing.

Yeah, Dishonored 2 came too late in the year from me.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/9iILqky.jpg)

I only got around to starting it on the last day of the year, and just finished with it over the weekend. It probably would have placed somewhere in the middle of my list I suppose, and it has a decent chance of making my list for this year. It was beautiful and I had a great time playing it, but ultimately it was more Dishonored with new powers and new settings, but nothing that grabbed me a genuinely new.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/qy6ScZi.jpg)

I mean, it's hard to go wrong when the formula you are following is this strong, but with one notable exception --- the mission “A Crack In The Slab” -- I felt like they did err a bit too much on the side of caution, and thus I came away a bit less blown away than I hoped to be. But, that's more a commentary on how high my esteem is for the people making the game, since I felt reasonably confident that they could have delivered something as special as "A Crack In The Slab" across the whole game.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/kR9YGTy.jpg)

More of my screenshots can be seen here, but beware: they spoil more or less everything.

That's gorgeous, ZeroKFE. And I agree. That "Crack in the Slab" mission is truly something special.

beeporama wrote:
Eleima wrote:
Gravey wrote:

That's the second multiplayer-only game in as many years. GWJ confirms it: singleplayer is dying

Don't be so sure. The 2016 ESA report says "Fifty-four percent of the most frequent video game players report playing video games with others."

I would suggest that the multiplayer voting is going to be a bit more monolithic, and the larger number of singleplayer-focused games split the vote. If there was a complex runoff voting system or something (and I'm not suggesting that Clock do that), results might be different.

We also know that this community isn't representative of all gamers (in both preferences and owned platforms), and the way we vote will have an effect. Well-loved games like Dishonored 2 releasing close to the end of the year might have hurt it as the vote will split between 2016 and 2017. (I'd like to think Final Fantasy XV would have cracked the top 10 if it was timed differently.)

On the other hand, I won't disagree that there's been a trend from single to multiplayer.

I was joking. The clue was when I rephrased a dank Slashdot meme. (Can Slashdot memes be dank? Imagine a Beowulf cluster of dank memes.)

Also, everyone knows Rocket League didn't appear on 2016's list because it's Not a Real Game, and The Witcher 3 is and also The Witcher 3 got a massive expansion last year and the rules allow for voting for that but mainly it's a Real Game for Real Gamers and Not a Baby Game Liek Rocket Leagguu

Can't wait for 2017 GOTY to be HITMAN when all you people realize your error. Agent 47 was robbed!

ClockworkHouse wrote:

Most of the votes for The Witcher 3 were votes for the DLC.

Well, sure, but the DLC was bigger than most full titles. It was entirely fair. People who bought in 2015 got a heck of a deal, and then people who bought in 2016 got an even better one.

Gravey wrote:

it's a Real Game for Real Gamers and Not a Baby Game Liek Rocket Leagguu

Really? You want to go there?

It's like people don't even know you, Gravey.

Hyetal wrote:

It's like people don't even know you, Gravey.

I'm going to petition whoever is in charge of HTML standards to bring back the blink tag, just so I can use it for my sig.

Gravey wrote:
Hyetal wrote:

It's like people don't even know you, Gravey.

I'm going to petition whoever is in charge of HTML standards to bring back the blink tag, just so I can use it for my sig.

Not sure if serious.

Malor wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

Most of the votes for The Witcher 3 were votes for the DLC.

Well, sure, but the DLC was bigger than most full titles. It was entirely fair.

I'm not saying it wasn't fair. I am saying that much of the support for The Witcher 3 this year came from the same people as last year. It's really not very surprising that a game finishes in roughly the same place two years in a row when it has roughly the same voters.

Publisher executives takeaway from the GWJ 2016 GotY results:

- 4/10 games had numbers in the title. This may impact our trend of having vague subtitles for sequels. R's are hot (Rises, Revelations, Returns etc.)

- 2 games had "watch" in their title. Watching is in, or as the kids say, "lit".

- 5/10 games had season passes. Audiences love season passes.

- No Nintendo games. We knew it!

- No console exclusives like The Last Guardian. Probably due to that game not having loot boxes or XP bars.

- 6/10 games had some kind of multiplayer component. Multiplayer. Multiplayer! GABO!

Aristophan wrote:

Yeah, it's more complicated than I made it out to be. Still, both Pillars of Eternity and Cities: Skylines made the list last year, and both are pretty wedded to the PC. I guess Torment is coming out for the PS4 and that's a sequel of sorts to Pillars.

Minor correction but Torment: Tides of Numenera is the spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment. Pillars was made by Obsidian and Torment is made by inXile. Pillars and Torment aren't related other than both being isometric PC-focused RPGs.

Tyranny came out in 2016, was made by Obsidian, and has many of the same mechanics as Pillars. It's awesome and anyone interested should play it.

So our ranking thread is ruined now. Thanks a lot, Clock.

Heh, really, thanks though. This is clearly a lot of work, and we appreciate it.

I think my personal GOTY has been a Nintendo title for the past three years. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Metroid Prime, Super Metroid. It is possible that Breath of the Wild could make it four.

Nintendo titles were also my second or third, if memory serves. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Mario Kart 8, Splatoon.