This is Giant Bomb. This is their list. The idea that they should place it higher because everyone else does is invalid.
I could've seen it not make the list. Otherwise, 10 seems like a good spot based on their experiences with it. You must have missed the part where they discussed the things they didn't like about the game that had nothing to do with the difficulty.
It doesn't feel good and it doesn't control well. Combat animations felt lackluster too. The upgrade system is really bad in multiple ways. It doesn't reward you appropriately for doing anything but major quests and when you do gain XP you have to sit on it for tens of hours until you finally unlock another node that allows for a new skill. Considering how long the game takes the combat doesn't improve at the rate it should. The inventory is still clunky and cluttered even after all the updates and it's unfriendly to use at best. They make trade offs in all the wrong places. Having to go into your inventory to use items because you are only allowed two ingame use slots is dumb.
All these points were made. They are also all part of the reason why I think that game is massively overrated myself. It's just not a great playing game. If that doesn't matter for you and you're there for the quests and world and such, that's great. But it mattered to them, and they've stated so repeatedly.
Those are all ridiculous reasons to dismiss the game, and misguided. It doesn't feel good? What does feel good, then? Red Dead Redemption was absolute molasses by comparison. Mass Effect 1 "feels" way worse too, and has a far more incomprehensible menu system. The upgrade system is irrelevant, same with XP gain. If you turn it down to easy you practically never have to even touch the upgrade tree if you don't want to. The inventory also isn't much worse than Diablo 3 or any number of other loot games these guys claim to love, they've been over exaggerating it's problems from day 1 and it's gotten better since then. And expecting rewards for everything you do is also misguided, this isn't that type of game. The reward is in the story.
I just don't see the merit in any of these points, and even if some were valid they're still so minor. If you have to step through a little bit of mud to get to the pot of gold, you step through the mud.
They didn't dismiss the game. They said it was the 10th best game of the year. Not liking the gameplay in a video game is not a minor issue. If the combat is so unpleasant that I should turn it down to easy to make it take the least amount of time possible, why shouldn't this "game" just be a book or a movie so I can experience the story without all the hassle?
They may be minor points to you, but to others they're major. A lot of their points mirror my own thoughts on the game, which is why even though I liked the game, it landed 12th on my GotY list, which is pretty high given the amount of great games that came out this year. Nobody is telling you that you're wrong for thinking that way, so why are you so dismissive of others? I don't get your need to divide this into sides where you either worship this game or you're among the haters. It's really unhealthy to carry around that kind of hate, man.
2013:The Last of Us has a fantastic story, with terrible slow feeling controls and an outdated combat system. Multiple members of the team said they loved everything about it besides the actual act of playing it. BUT THAT STORY MAN GAME OF THE YEAR
2015: The Witcher 3 has a fantastic story but slow feeling controls and an outdated combat system. We can't overlook the fact that we don't like the way the game plays! That would be ridiculous. Token 10th place!
The over-entitlement in this comment section is palpable.
If your thoughts are "I pay for a premium subscription so that these people I don't know will completely conform to my exact opinions about games", please go fuck yourself, this community won't miss you.
This is a silly list representing the opinions of the staff.
agreed. I will point out that smm will be talked about longer than almost every game on this list, so yes it deserves the spot it has.
I think that sort of attitude is just the other extreme of people getting really riled up about GOTY lists. I'm sure at least half the people voicing their concerns don't necessary want the crew to mindlessly conform to the hive mind of the forums.
Each year during GOTY talks there are some people who think this or that game didn't deserve this or that spot and obviously thats unavoidable because we all like different things. I think this year especially you can tell that there is a stronger than usual consensus of people thinking Mario Maker didn't seem to deserve the win. Now I'm not saying "change the list! The people have spoken!" I'm simply pointing out that beyond the hyperbolic posts here and there that always pop up, there are a lot of fairly reasonable people saying the same thing and thats a little telling.
Ultimately it's Giant Bomb GOTY and it honestly rarely makes any sense because it's just a bunch of people compromising instead of agreeing on something. But saying "hey you people that don't agree with this and have any sort of complaints are entitled and go fuck yourself" is exactly the sort of extreme attitude you're criticizing in the first place.
As a complete aside I haven't even listened to the podcast yet but from looking at everyones individual GOTY lists and so forth I'm also a little befuddled how Mario Maker of all games ended up as #1 for the entire site.
honestly I think people are upset because they see smm as a utility/tool set, and not a game. yes I was being hyperbolic, but of the 10 games on the list I think Super Mario Maker, Kerbal Space Program, Undertale, and the witcher 3 will be talked about more than the other 6 games. smm and undertale I think will be talked about for a very long time.
Yep. Mario Maker is barely more of a game than the Unreal Editor. Best level editor that's ever been released, but ultimately just a level editor.
I know i'm going to get a lot of disagreement on this, but I don't think Mario Maker should be considered for a game of the year list. It's literally just a level creation tool with no curation and next to no ability to find levels in game. It's like nominating the unity asset shop as game of the year. I feel like Jeff and Dan just came in saying "Mario Maker is GOTY" and weren't even willing to entertain the idea that it wasn't going to be number 1. They steamrolled any discussion to the contrary to the point where people weren't even able to make an argument against it. The number of times "Well I think "X" game is better but I know you guys won't let me win that argument" was said showed that several members of the crew came in with a predefined conclusion and weren't willing, under any circumstances, to even consider any idea to the contrary.
Outside of that, the idea that a level creation tool was given a higher place than a game like the Witcher is one of the most insane things I have ever heard in the history of me following games media, but I'm not terribly surprised since, according to this list, any game over 10 hours that has a deep story and no explosions is too much work to follow.
Gosh, I assume from listening to the podcast that the Witcher 3 won't do well, but I hope they aren't super dismissive about it. I'd like to see them analyze it and not just say "didn't like the controls, cut it."
@draklawl : They've been pretty clear in every GOTY that this is "their GOTY." These are the games they think are the best games of the year, not the most popular games of the year. If no one on staff really likes the Witcher (as crazy as that seems to me!) then it is what it is.
I get that, I really do. I just get frustrated knowing that MGS5 is going to probably run away with everything, even though all that game has is a series of barely connected but extremely fun set pieces. It's an extremely well done sandbox, but that's all it really has going for it. Meanwhile we have a game with a developed and rich world that, unlike MGS, doesn't just feel like a world that was created for you to play around in. It has a deep and meaningful narrative with complex characters and decisions that actually have an effect on the greater world beyond the superficial. Beyond that, it even plays well. It has great mechanics that evolve over time. Combat requires forethought and precision. And the idea that it will likely get snubbed because it was too much is extremely frustrating. Understandable for people in their position who need to play every big release, but frustrating.
The idea that Witcher 3 wouldn't be in the top 5, let alone the top 3 is utter insanity to me. It doesn't matter if they didn't find the time to play it, or it's not their cup of tea, that game is an achievement in so many departments, that it not getting it's recognition would be a crime.
Despite the game being locked at 30fps, the game runs perfectly fine for me otherwise. I didn't think it noticeably dipped, turned on fraps to confirm. Never dropped a single frame. Guess I lucked out.
Yeh same for me. It seems the majority of performance problems are happening for PCs with low RAM (4Gb or less) and/or players who unlock 60fps via the .ini file. If thats the case i dont know why WB would pull back the game. They didnt give a crap about their earlier shitty PC ports why would they pull this one from stores just becouse players complain about 30fps?
Its strange to say the least.
Maybe they got hit by a massive internet rage and are just trying to hide from it.
16 gb of ram and I didn't touch the .ini. Still drops into single digit framerates whenever the batmobile is on screen.
I tried messing around with the settings to make it playable and was having a ton of trouble. It would go from perfectly fine to dumpster fire completely randomly and quite often. The batmobile seems to be one of the larger problems. The framerate plumets whenever its on screen. Hopefully they fix it soon. 4670k @ 4ghz and gtx 680SLI at 1080p
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