Has it got to the point where unless a game is a GOTY contender it just not worth playing?

in fact the exact inverse appears to be the way (again my opinion) case in point Space Engineers as I sampled to you earlier.

more likely its a game of the year the more likely its game on rails

No. Most of the really interesting games this gen have been indies that the media doesn't pay much attention to.

Then you have something like Rainbow Six Siege that had some issues at launch inspite of its perfect gameplay that have been ironed out and lots more content has been added.

Nah. People really shouldn't put so much power in reviews scores or the opinion of game critics in my opinion.

If it looks interesting to you and you have the cash, give it a try.

No, not really... I'm thoroughly enjoying Yooka Laylee right now and it has a yellow score on metacritic for PS4. I also enjoyed A Hat in Time a lot and it felt short of that coveted 80 by a point. Battle Chasers was also a game that I enjoyed A LOT and score 75. The list can go on for lines and lines of games.

Which GOTY games have been on rails? The Witcher 3, Overwatch, or Zelda: Breath of the Wild? If anything, open world games are favored for GOTY.

Voted, what's an MC?

I just don't see how Master Chief fits in here? lol :P

@jumpaction: Well said. I feel sorry for anybody that's judging games and their worth purely based on review scores. If that was the case I probably would've missed a lot of my favorite games of all time.

Far cry 5 is not a contender and it's still fun as hell

Of course not, im still playing shittyass Friday the 13th on a daily basis.

The Witcher 3 for example, yes

the marketing teams of those games like to call those games 'open world' but they arent are they?

example:

GTA series, you MUST do the missions in order to open the other half of the map.

that is a HUGE no no for open world design.

the difference these days in actual game play between indies (including AA indies) and the so called AAA market is friggin radical isnt?

in fact in my opinion hard to believe but it is

@valgaav_219: Don't get me wrong. I understand that video games is an expensive hobby and some are cautious about purchasing a game but given the inconsistency of review aggregates regarding everything from design to technical issues and how this metric really doesn't describe anything specific, especially not to a person's individual tastes; It's not a good tool to decide what is worth buying and what isn't.

Map is open from the beginning in GTA 5.

Nah your projection is way way too high TC. Your talking like a crazy SW person. Garbage if it doesn't hit 95mc? when did that f***in happen. I think only time that people pay attention to reviews is when a game is maybe on that yellow range. Usually means there is some serious issue with it. That every review is low on a game. Don't let this place fool you people play games. Incomplete game as long as has a new novelty can be the one that people play the most. The best selling games usually are not the highest rated ones, not even on a nintendo library.

they called GTA 4 'open world' but it was landlocked.

my point is that what marketing teams for those companies call 'open world' are not always realy open world GTA4 is a perfect example

but you know what....fine

I am wrong, those games are not 'on rails' they are just exceeding simple and limited in game play. there that is better

@speedfreak48t5p: He won’t of played GTAV he will only have watched a YouTube video. Which is the same as playing it in his opinion.

I definitely agree with your examples of linear mission design in GTA and The Witcher 3. I tend to laugh when people point The Witcher 3 out as an example of good quest design. What it does right is having meaningful quests as they have stories to them instead of the typical go fetch this. The actual design is very linear though with not much gameplay freedom. Something like Gothic would be a better example than The Witcher 3 for good quest design.

I have played GTA 5 and I had to force fail missions about 5 times before it stopped forcing me to play a mission.

but I really dont need to play GTA 5 to know about GTA5 and I dont know why people think they can not learn about a video game by watching lets play. that logic is so unbelievably bizzaro

From all the games I play, GOTY winners are but a tiny fraction.

I was hyping up Quantum Break to be GOTY myself (9/10), got a 6 here on gamespot and had to wear an OWNED sig and avatar by @blue_hazy_basic

So yeah it didn't live up to expectations, but Quantum Break was still a mighty enjoyable game. Really enjoyed finishing that game twice.

It wasn't as good as Remedy's older games like Max Payne, but I'm still hopefull for whatever next they are working on.

And, no: that doesn't have to be a GOTY winner ;)

'good quest design' in my opinion is one in which doing a quest is completely optional.

It would represent only one thread to multiple threads of how to enjoy the game.

THAT is open world quest design

Do you only watch Oscar's contenders? Only listen to album of the year contenders? Obviously not, so no.

@calvincfb: no, but movies generally don’t cost £50 and are over in a couple if hour. A review for a game is much more important when you factor in the money and time commitment.

So why do you pick on stuff like Bravo Team and Detroit , and defend Sea of Thieves? All games are worth playing , right?

fine its not game on rails I was wrong.

they are just more likely to be simple hand holding games with a lot of cut scenes

@boycie: still the analogy applies, nobody consumes only award nominated Contents.

Final fantasy xv was a goty nominated game and it's a PoS by the way.

Games ? No

Its the console that needs to have atleast one goty contender a year. Or Atleast two 85s and ups a year

Thats how it used to be since forever is what you guys dont get.

Its a bit to early to tell but high production exclusives are lacking in xbox divisions. Ppl are simply noticing the weird imblance.

Halo and gears use to fill that hole. Titianfall and halo 5 gave a lil tease but the buck stops there. Its just kinda forza who are now working on a action game i heard.

No duh xbox tittles are still enjoyable.

Its just not the match up it use to be and your somehow not noticing the weird current imblance going on simply cuase your enjoying games

If i had no money since ps4 luanch i would be enjoying warframe still. And other free to plays.

Doesnt mean my console shouldnt get a new top teir exclusives once or twice a year. Its only been a few years tho so hope is alive and well for xbox atleast.

@tryit: you didn't play Zelda, Gow is not out yet, Overwatch is a team shooter multiplayer game, the Witcher 3 is by no means a hand holding experience, specially on death March.

You never played these games, why are you talking about them?

Have you played Space Engineers, Medievel Engineers, Card Life, Emperium Galactic Surival, Rust, Ark, Kindgoms, Subnautica, The Forest to just name a few?

sounds to me that if you havent played those games you are not qualified to speak to the difference.

I however have about 10 years worth of playing AAA titles, and about 10 years of playing indies.

how about you? what are your qualifications?

we had this conversation yesterday YOU are not qualified to say I am wrong. using your very own logic

Well not for me personally. I generally know if I’m going to enjoy a game before the reviews even come out. While I do like to see games that I enjoy get high praise from reviewers for me it’s not the end all, be all. This isn’t to say that I don’t find reviews helpful either though. You just need to dig into it beyond a cursory glance at the numbers to know if a game will be right for you.

@tryit: no I didn't, I don't know these games and the thread is about GOTY contenders, please stay on topic and leave your obscure PC games out of it, please. Do not make this about you again.

@calvincfb: The Witcher 3 coddles the player quite a bit...

so you are not qualified to say I am wrong, using your very own logic.

@tryit: stay on topic. Stop moving the goal post, this is NOT about you or your ego.

@tryit: Try hard boy having another meltdown.

@creepywelps: he always has meltdowns and move the thread subjects towards himself and talks about games he never even played, I've had enough.

@jumpaction: have you played on death March?

That wouldnt be fair since SONY enjoys such a rich history of getting them.

In the system wars microcosm every game is shit if you don't own the device to play it on.

To me, it's just like movie reviews. I think that when a game gets a lot of praise, it drives interest in that game and perhaps it is open to an audience that might not normally play the genre simply because it is a quality game. At the same time, if I absolutely love... Oh, let's say, DragonBall, it's not like a bad reviewer who pans a DragonBall movie is going to stop me from wanting to see it. I already had a vested interest in it. Transversely, I don't care how well-reviewed a movie like Moulin Rouge is, I do not care to see some hopelessly romantic guy dragged by his tongue through hell and back by a hooker. Thanks, but no thanks.

So, let hype be hype. It's good for the industry. In a way, it helps to legitimize the art and craft of videogames and videogame making. We all win from that. At the end of the day, what you do or don't spend your hard-earned money on is your decision.

guys...get back on subject.

if your objective is to trigger someone then I am triggered you win at that objective! congradulations I hope that makes you feel good.

but again...topic?

being triggered is actually a good thing

@tryit: have you played Zelda, god of war, the Witcher 3 and Overwatch? Have you?

@calvincfb: I have not, but I'm not necessarily referring to the combat. Shifting some variables around to make the game more punishing would help make that more challenging (though I don't know if more challenging would make the combat more fun), but the whole way exploration and discovery works in the game operates a bit like Skyward Sword. It's over-saturated with information, UI elements and exposition which tells me where to go so I don't get lost.

This isn't really a fault of the design, but the art direction. Like, theoretically I should be able to follow bloody footprints by myself but the art direction doesn't make them visible enough, so you have a dedicated witcher senses button which turns everything into a smoky red color that you follow. The whole detective/ witcher senses aspect of the game is a bit too, well coddling.

Some people prefer this approach where they can get to where they want without getting lost but I find it's a bit too much information. The game definitely has a habit of giving the player too much information. It asks you to find treasure, but then proceeds to tell you where to look, guiding you to a circumference as if following directions is too difficult that they need another layer of UI on top of it.

@tryit: Topic is about games you haven't and won't play. How did you like TW3, Botw, and GTA 5? You enjoy those?

@jumpaction: geralt does that in the books, so I don't see the cuddling. You can disable the UI and map information.

The game gives you all of these options so you can customize the experience, it's up to you to do so.

@calvincfb: Nah man, it doesn't work. I tried disabling the UI elements such as the GPS and quest markers but the game isn't designed around this. When you turn them off, there are quests where you're given no indication of where you need to be at all and unless the UI is activated, you won't find where you need to be.

So the only effective way of navigating the game is to have the UI on which tells you exactly where you need to go so you won't get lost. It's not like Thief, Deus Ex or BoTW which is clearly designed around the absence of UI elements.

This isn't about the books, which I have read. It's about being a video game. Witcher senses is basically a solution button. It would have been more interesting if Geralt spoke some sort of detail but didn't outright give you the solution like the red blobs do. But the game basically solves those detective moments for you.

@jumpaction: well, I don't believe that's actually a problem, but I see your point.

I'm from a time where a game didn't give you any information at all and you didn't know what to do and I absolutely hated that, I'm glad games are the way they are now, it doesn't work for everyone, I know.

but at least you have the option to not follow quests and instead build a home and a farm and trade with NPCs.

right? I mean GOTY and all surely you can at least to those basic core game mechanics right?

@calvincfb: I get you. It's just differing opinions, but I was raising to task the idea that Witcher 3 doesn't hold the player's hand which I think in a number of areas, it does.

I personally prefer a good game designed around limited information because it preserves an element of discovery without faking it. Thief is a good example. The way Thief handles notes and finding treasure is great, in my opinion and an example of a game that doesn't hold the player's hand.

@tryit: Real talk? I like all those things in video games. :P I love simulation aspects in games. They aren't a necessity but, I find life sim stuff to be very cathartic.