2017 Community Game of the Year - Results on the front page!!

I really want to play The Long Dark, and Getting Over It. I'm teetering on needing to get in on Mass Effect: Andromeda, too. This thread!

  1. Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun
    I can't believe that no one else has this on their list. This game is a master class on the old "Commandos" style of tactical RTS. It was supremely satisfying to come up against a seemingly impossible to progress situation, and peeling back the onion layers to find a way past it. I love this genre of game, and it's great to see Mimimi productions reviving it after so many years (and doing an amazing job of it to boot).
  2. XCOM 2 + War of the Chosen
    My favourite genre of game is the turn based strategy, and this game delivers the best of it. I hadn't previously finished XCOM 1 (I got half way through on both PC and iOS), and hadn't started XCOM 2 until just recently. I'd heard (was it @certis ?) that the War of the Chosen expansion turned XCOM into the game that we all had been hoping for, so I delayed until I could afford to get it before I started. I love the addition of sending your warriors off on missions so that they're not available for the main missions, which forces you to mix up your team, and have a broader range of troops. It was nice that they included in the game the option to extend the timers on the countdown missions, because I don't like the extra stress that they give.
  3. Banner Saga
    I played this entirely on my iPhone 7+, mostily during my down time while I was working away from home for a short period. It's a great game that translated surprisingly well to the large phone format. The tactical battles are excellent.
  4. Steamworld Dig 2
    This was a fun diversion, it reminded me of the old "I Dig It" tunnelling/exploring games on iOS. I enjoyed the exploration mechanics, plus I love the RPGish upgrade systems. It was a nice game to drop into for a few minutes for a loot run which would only take a few minutes, while I was waiting for a process to run on my other computer.
  5. Divinity Original Sin 2
    This is a great tactical RPG with lots of ways to build your party and their abilities, with interesting characters and story. This feels like the spiritual successor to Baldurs Gate that I always wanted.
  6. Merge Dragons (iOS)
    I'm a PC gamer at heart, but I've spent a huge amount of time playing this. It's a great little title that you can play in short doses, or spend a long time upgrading your home if you end up sitting at the doctors or something waiting for a long time.
  7. Life is Strange
    I loved the storytelling and relatable characters in this. It's been a while since I was a teenager, but I felt right at home with this story. The rewind mechanic gives a more relaxed gameplay style because it makes it feel like you can recover from any mistakes without stress.
  8. Flutter VR
    I'm biased on this, but I've played this more than any other game on the market this year (I'm the lead programmer on the game team). And it's coming out to the public in the next couple of days for Google Daydream!

Buzzrick, Shadow Tactics is #3 on my list. Just haven’t posted it yet due to the bottom of the list still being malleable and I’ll probably play one more game before the new year.

Buzzrick wrote:
  1. Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun
    I can't believe that no one else has this on their list.

It looks right up my alley, I just haven't been able to make time for it. Good to hear the recommendation though, I might move it to the top of my wishlist.

Yeah, Shadow Tactics is the bomb.

Made my list last year.

Whew! I thought I'd missed this year's.

This was a great year for games. Almost as great as last year. It's hard to choose from such a great roster, but here goes:

1) Breath of the Wild: I never thought I'd get into Zelda, but darned if this game didn't suck me in. It's everything I want in open world gameplay, portable!

2) Farming Simulator 17 (Switch Edition) Ok, so I'm cheating a bit on this one, since I already chose the PC version as my number 2 last year, but the Switch Edition of Farming Simulator 17 is exactly the version of Farming Simulator 17 I wanted. It does everything you can do in the PC version, but you can bring it with you anywhere and you can suspend the game in the middle of those timed jobs.

3) Spintires Mudrunners So I may be inflating this because I played it mostly with a force-feedback wheel, but everything about Mudrunners is an improvement over the original Spintires, and the original Spintires is an amazingly good game.

4) Bulletstorm Full Clip Edition Bulletstorm? Yes please. Duke Nukem in Bulletstorm? Hell yes please!

5) Agents of Mayhem It still mystifies and perplexes me why this game wasn't a bigger hit. It has everything. Decent comedy writing with callbacks to 1980's Saturday morning cartoons, fun action, a nice tech tree and the most diverse cast of playable characters I've seen in a single player game that didn't have a build-your-own-character menu. It's a great game, and it deserved better than it got.

6) Destiny 2 Yeah, that's right. A multiplayer game made it into my top ten, mainly because you don't have to play it like a multiplayer game. At least I finally got to see what all the fuss about Bungee shooters was all about without buying an Xbox.

7) Redeemer A late addition to the release list for 2017, but a great game nonetheless. It's a more forgiving version of Hotline Miami with a good twist on the Batman combat that everyone pretends to be sick of.

8) Battle Chef Brigade Do you like match 3 games? Do you like 2D side-scrolling combat? Do you like Iron Chef? Well, tuck in friend because this is the game for you!

9) Super Mario Odyssey It feels like a cop-out to add this to the list, but it really is the best 3d mario game since Galaxy.

10) Bendy and the Ink Machine Competition for my top 10th spot was fierce, but I had to go with The Meatly's quirky and charming take on the horror genre.

Honorable Mentions:

11) Nefarious: Play as the villain from a Genesis-era platformer.

12) Everything: A worthwhile experience that was, ultimately, not memorable enough to make the top ten.

13) Deformers: The best multiplayer arena shooter that nobody played.

21) Serial Cleaner: Stealth evidence-tampering action, in the '70s!

Dishonorable mentions:

31) Yooka Laylee: A great reminder of why nobody makes games like this anymore.

doubtingthomas396 wrote:

2) Farming Simulator 17 (Switch Edition) Ok, so I'm cheating a bit on this one, since I already chose the PC version as my number 2 last year, but the Switch Edition of Farming Simulator 17 is exactly the version of Farming Simulator 17 I wanted. It does everything you can do in the PC version, but you can bring it with you anywhere and you can suspend the game in the middle of those timed jobs.

I hate you.

.....................

Thanks for the lead on Bendy!

I definitely liked the free demo for Bendy. Might pick up the rest of it at some point.
And Farming Simulator 17. :-p

Can I make Campo Santo's next game as my game of the year even though it's not out yet and I've only seen the one trailer for it? No? Well....dang....

pyxistyx wrote:

Can I make Campo Santo's next game as my game of the year even though it's not out yet and I've only seen the one trailer for it? No? Well....dang....

I think they are showing it off way too soon considering that it won't be out until 2019. At this point they are just torturing us.

Yeah, In the Valley of Gods looks sweet.

Love the setting & art direction.

So refreshing to see some character diversity as well.

Okay. So I guess I'll participate this year. For Aloy. Haha.

1. Horizon: Zero Dawn
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I'm not a Far Cry fan. Nor an Assassin's Creed one. I bounce off those games pretty hard. Basically, I don't like icon hell, and I'm not a fan of map-location interactions just for the heck of it. It's got to have crunch. So I prefer games like Shadow of Mordor, Arkham City (?), the Infamous games, and so on.

Horizon Zero is the absolute best example of these games, IMO. It's combat is better composed and executed, IMO, than any of the games from the other series, and the pacing through the combat stages is quick and deft. Unlike other games featuring targets with multiple critical hit locations, HZD utilizes its systems to allow the player a plethora of options for dealing with their enemies, each staged and nuanced, instead of dictating a set of locations one after another. For instance, on a Snapmaw, you can go after the Cold Sac, or the Blaze cannisters. Or Blast Wire. Or Armor-Strip/multihit.

Marry that lovely combat with a decent story and a nice-looking overworld and you've got a system-seller.

2. XCOM2: War of the Chosen
IMAGE(https://www.dropbox.com/s/cjr7c2kl6uxy28p/Poster_862.png?raw=1)

Firaxis calls this an expansion. Some less charitable people might call it a glorified mod. For the faithful, this might as well be XCOM 3.

War of the Chosen doesn't simply add more features and maps to XCOM2 the way EW did to XCOM1. It adds those features in thoughtful and considered ways that changes the entire game and elevates it to the absolute top of turn-based tactical games. For instance, the Resistance Orders are an inspired application of Firaxis' internal random feature-day. Don't like timers? There's an RO for that. Do you want more sneaking? There's an RO for that, too. They change the rules in dramatic but equivalent ways, giving both tangibly fun variations on missions, as well as changing the flow of replays. In one game, your Gunslingers might be badass Lost-killers putting away the zombies in droves with their insane pistol skills. In another, your entire squad might be outfitted for stealth because your timer doesn't start until after you break concealment. So you take pains not to do that.

There's so much map and mission variety on tap here that you may not have a repeat mission until 2 years after the game start - a sizable timeframe considering that you're estimated to win within the first year.

3. Civilization VI
IMAGE(https://www.dropbox.com/s/b0y3sr0f949dp08/20171106055221_1.jpg?raw=1)

If Civ 5 favored tabletop minis fans with 1UPT, Civ6 turns the spotlight back on builders with tile-based buildings. This is relatively new for Civilization, because even-numbered Civs generally build on the economic systems or military systems established in the odd-numbered ones. Civ6 is a break from Civ5, establishing entirely new rules for economies, a completely overhauled civics system, and iconography so detailed, you don't even need a separate city screen. You can tell from the overland map whether your city has a Bank or not!

The patches have been a wild ride through the first year, but even with Rise and Fall so near, Civ6 is already in a state good enough to normally be the state after the first expansion. Districts have been rebalanced and repurposed, entire building costs recalculated, and other such relatively large changes!

And that's it! It's been a relatively relaxed game year for me, since I've mainly been playing Civ and Diablo 3. Looking forward to Witcher 3, Switch games, and Hollow Knight next year!

War of the Chosen looks sick. I just wish I didn’t have to put both that AND the base game on my wish list. #LifeIsHardYo

Maclintok wrote:

War of the Chosen looks sick. I just wish I didn’t have to put both that AND the base game on my wish list. #LifeIsHardYo

Keep an eye out on sales - the base game has been out long enough that I suspect it'll start getting heavily discounted / included in bundles. I'm half-expecting to see it in a Humble Monthly Gamble before long.

Jonman wrote:
Maclintok wrote:

War of the Chosen looks sick. I just wish I didn’t have to put both that AND the base game on my wish list. #LifeIsHardYo

Keep an eye out on sales - the base game has been out long enough that I suspect it'll start getting heavily discounted / included in bundles. I'm half-expecting to see it in a Humble Monthly Gamble before long.

Actually...

Base XCOM2 was in the February 2017 Humble Monthly

So you're saying I was right, just temporally in the wrong direction.

This is my favorite topic of the year. I follow video games pretty closely, reading websites, Reddit, listening to multiple podcast. And there are always so many games on people’s list that I’ve never heard of. I like reading about those games. And it shows the diversity of interests at gwj. And people talking about what brought them joy gives me warm fuzzies.

Diablo III

Earlier this year I helped my best buddy move into his new house in a different town. About a month after, my job started stationing me in hotels (I’d come home to be with my wife on weekends).

Before all this my primary free-time game was probably Overwatch, which is wonderful. But not far into my “home-on-weekends-only” life I realized I didn’t have the energy or time to draw satisfaction from a difficult competitive shooter.

Sometime into this experience my aforementioned best buddy and I were talking at a cookout to say goodbye to summer. He’d just gotten his internet hooked up and an Xbox too, so we wanted to play together.

We agreed we’d each acquire a game of the other’s choosing. We planned to have a game we played when I was in hotels during the week (low internet requirements) and a game we played when I was home (demanding internet).

I chose Overwatch, which he dutifully acquired, and he chose Diablo III, which I got on sale (He was understandably annoyed that Overwatch was still $60 over a year after its release).

So we starting playing Diablo 3 online together when I was in a hotel. I was enjoying my wizard of lasers so much I showed it to my wife that weekend. SHE took an interest in the wizard of lasers and joined us for a new playthrough.

When playing Diablo you get “gifts” which are legendary items you mail to other players. We texted my other best buddy - who we’d all received a lot of gifts for - that he should log on and at least get his gifts before they expired. So he logged back on and we all got some playtime, including my wife’s first ever 4-player shoot and loot co-op experience.

My wife and I actually struggle to find a lot of entertainment in common. She likes different shows, different movies, and generally isn’t interested in video games. She loves to co-op with me though and now thanks to Diablo 3 we often have something to play together in the evenings.

So while I may have played some other games this year, and Diablo 3 has been out for years, it is my game of the year.

Agreed, IUMogg, that's exactly why I found this thread so special when I started participating back in 2012.

Only 3 games, LarryC? Can I talk you into putting Mass Effect: Andromeda in #4 ?

Same to you, Buzzrick, I've only got 8, so if you have two other games you decide to add, just give me a heads up.

Don't worry, Bloody Initiate, you're not the only one to vote for Diablo 3, so you're all good. Just one game though?

So I'm up to date. Some of you jokers are going back and editing your posts, so I'm just going to leave this here:

Eleima wrote:

Doesn't matter if it's one year, five years, ten years, or twenty-five years old, what matters is that it's new to you. If you change your list, don't edit your post, make a new one and tell me you've changed your mind.

Spoiler:

I'm so totally looking at you, Tangle. ;)

Don't worry though, folks, everyone's lists have been taken into account.

IMAGE(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/aceattorney/images/a/aa/Apollo_Embarrassed_5.gif/revision/latest?cb=20120904191914)

Bloody Initiate wrote:

So while I may have played some other games this year, and Diablo 3 has been out for years, it is my game of the year.

Awesome story and so glad you and your wife both enjoy Diablo 3.

My experience is sort of similar... Diablo 3 came out when I was 2nd year in University, and 3 of my highschool buddies pick the game up as a way to keep in touch with one another. We played every wednesday and thursday night, and generally just talk about crap while going through the dungeon. And it really helps us maintain the friendship despite all being in different countries / provinces.

Fun fact about Diablo 3: It really wasn't that good when it first came out. And that was the first time I ever purchased a game on launch date. I was complaining about "$60 for a seriously bugged game etcetc". But with each updates D3 got better and better. We stopped playing it for about an year, then DLC came out and we replayed the chapters again.

Don't sweat it, Tanglebones, ego te absolvo.
Keep 'em coming, folks: 44 goodjers, 200 games.

Well I know that will go up to 209 games once I decide to get around to typing up why my choices are so (niche).

Just putting it out there that hybrid RPG/RTS Spellforce 3 was recently released and features the voice actor for Geralt from the Witcher series. If I do buy at full price (and it's not "cheap" priced just under AAA title price) it may end up on my list. Eleima, go easy on us! They keep releasing new games!

Bfgp wrote:

Just putting it out there that hybrid RPG/RTS Spellforce 3 was recently released and features the voice actor for Geralt from the Witcher series. If I do buy at full price (and it's not "cheap" priced just under AAA title price) it may end up on my list. Eleima, go easy on us! They keep releasing new games!

Which is why you shouldn't submit your 2017 GOTY list until 2018.

In no particular order:

Zelda: Breath of the Wild: Nothing more to say that hasn't already been said.

Mario Odyssey: Nothing more to say tha... well, one thing to say: what a year for Nintendo, no? Remember when people were saying they were dead?

Mass Effect: Andromeda: *Dodges rotten vegetable* No, seriously, hear me out! So I waded into Andromeda several months after release when the game was retailing at a cool 50% discount and after several major patches had landed to fix the most glaring bugs so I missed the excitement of those heady early days. I also came to the game without outrageously high expectations for an epic story akin to the first trilogy... just looking for a fun romp in space. Granted, my expectations were colored by the poor early reception so I felt I had little to lose. What I experienced was a completely passable sci-fi space odyssey, nothing groundbreaking but certainly serviceable. What I really enjoyed though was the combat and progression systems. When I play these RPG systems games "semi-casually", I'm perfectly fine scouring the internet for a decent and interesting build that someone with more time to play has optimized and then use that as a blueprint to follow. This way I feel comfortable knowing that I'm playing at least somewhat optimally without sinking time into figuring out all the optimal mechanics on my own. I really enjoyed the sniper gameplay and build that I chose at the onset of the game. Having been turned off to the uber-competitive nature of multiplayer shooters for years, it was lovely to go around stealthing and fragging AI aliens from afar.

Planet Coaster: Everything you'd want from a modern reimagining of the superb original Roller Coaster Tycoon.

Divinity: Original Sin 2: I bounced off the first Divinty: Original Sin. It wasn't what I was looking for at the time. I was trying to scratch an MMORPG-sized itch and that wasn't the experience Divinity was providing. I didn't appreciate it for the truly open-ended RPG sandbox that it was. Divinity 2 has convinced me to go back and thoroughly play that original game. Talk about a juicy, juicy game world where nearly all the content is interesting! Dense games done poorly can be a slog to work through but Divinity 2 has been a delight. The amount of systems at play and the amount of variety means I'm hunting around every rock and down every bend in the path, talking to every NPC, and consider how I'll do things differently for the next 100 hour round when I'll boot up and completely new character and party to play. Phew... I may have to take a break first though.

Dunhugh wrote:

In no particular order:
...(cool games).

I think the idea is that you do place them in a particular order- Eleima's job is hard enough as it is. (Although, you are sure to curry favour with her by including Andromeda in your list )

PWAlessi wrote:
Bfgp wrote:

Just putting it out there that hybrid RPG/RTS Spellforce 3 was recently released and features the voice actor for Geralt from the Witcher series. If I do buy at full price (and it's not "cheap" priced just under AAA title price) it may end up on my list. Eleima, go easy on us! They keep releasing new games!

Which is why you shouldn't submit your 2017 GOTY list until 2018.

Except we’re not going by release dates, we’re going by play dates. Please see the OP on the rationale behind that.

Seriously folks, you do this every year, complaining about the cutoff for the lists. Last year, voting closed on January 5th with a slight extension until the 8th, and results were made public (in the front page to boot!! I’d totally forgotten about that!) on the 21st or whereabouts. Honestly folks, I don’t know why you’re so adamant about having these last minute games count anyhow. Statistically, you’re going to have less people playing them, therefore fewer people voting for them. Consider this, posted on January 4th in last year’s thread:

Mixolyde wrote:

I tend to just consider steam winter sale games as being played in the next year anyway, since it takes me weeks or months to build up enough time in a game to give it any kind of thought. For me it's mostly the "Game of the period between winter sale purchases" thread. ;-)

The next one of you who complains, I’ll take your list and replace it with all votes for Mass Effect: Andromeda.
(not really )

kergguz wrote:
Dunhugh wrote:

In no particular order:
...(cool games).

I think the idea is that you do place them in a particular order- Eleima's job is hard enough as it is. (Although, you are sure to curry favour with her by including Andromeda in your list )

I really don’t know why you would say that, Kergguz. Dunhugh, Kergguz is correct, a ranked list would be preferable, since there are weighted points. Otherwise I’ll just take them in the order you wrote them out. Keep me posted.

This is the first year I’ve followed the GOTY thread closely and it’s definitely clear why it isn’t a simple job to be in charge of it.