It's bothersome because 2018 is the year with genre defining open world, action adventure, racing, action RPG and platformer games.
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ResetEra Games of the Year Awards 2018
- Thread starter SweetNicole
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It's bothersome because 2018 is the year with genre defining open world, action adventure, racing, action RPG and platformer games.
I've seen the latter sentiment being misrepresented as the former in this thread (see some of the responses to Pooh's post a few pages back).
Anyways I don't see any "narrative being spun", regardless.
I don't get the simulation angle. People here, normal enthusiast gamers, say all the time that Xbox isn't really needed since everything is on PC now. They'll go PS4+PC or Switch+PC. But when many of us here boot up our PCs to play those previously exclusive Xbox games in even better versions we're suddenly not interested in those games unless they are simulators?
A PC is just another gaming platform these days, same games, same controllers, same wheels, same TV if you want as well (but a PC screen, or three, is better).
Well, just speaking for myself, I took it to mean, "Didn't see a bunch of people saying that until now." Course, with me, I've noticed it for a while (some people simply saying it's weak). But it's all good; I have a hard time judging whether 2018 is stronger or not since I don't have a Switch yet, so it's hard to say, "I think 2018 was stronger," until I play me some Zelda/Mario!
You're talking about a tiny minority of people. Don't use here or any enthusiast site/community to try and figure out how the majority of the consumers feel about something. It'll likely not play out that way.
We don't really have anyway of knowing how popular the PC version is, but we can get a decent idea of it doing well on Xbox.Based on the UK charts, where it does well.
My serie of postings about FH4 is about the #16 place on this community's GOTY votings, I have no idea how popular it is elsewhere or what the general consumer thinks about it. I'm just surprised and sad to see that this tiny minority of gaming enthusiasts, who likely have either an Xbox or PC, apparently didn't like the highest rated racing game in the last decade enough to even place it up on the top 10.
That's all valid, and I still don't think 2018 measures up to 2015-16-17. It's totally cool if you think 2018 is as good or better, there's a strong argument to be made, I just don't see what's "bothersome" about thinking it isn't.
For what it's worth, it's hard to say "2018 isn't as good as..." and "weakest since 2014" and not sound negative, but in this case I've really felt spoiled by the previous three years. For me it's more about those years being amazing and not about 2018 being disappointing. I think 2012 was the last really legitimately weak year across-the-board, and I'd rank 2018 way, way above that.
Pretty much every major site is the same, I don't know what to tell besides it's just not all that popular of a genre in these parts again or with the general GoTY voting audience.
It's not bothersome if someone holds your opinion. It's bothersome if someone uses this opinion to claim the drop in total votes.
I've seen it higher at some places but yeah racing certainly doesn't seem to be popular here at least. Unless it's console war discussions like Gran Turismo vs Forza Motorsport of course :s
That's true, which is a shame as it kinda just makes me even less interested in talking about them.
I figured RDR2 would lose out to GOW, but I'm very surprised to see it finish behind Spiderman too. I enjoyed Spiderman, but personally I had RDR2 clearly a couple notches above. On the plus side, GOW is still sitting in my queue, so I have that to look forward to.
I'm just now finishing up Hitman 2, and I wish that one could have gotten more love. I can't help but notice how pretty much nobody is earning any of the trophies for this game -- I feel bad for IO.
I'm just now finishing up Hitman 2, and I wish that one could have gotten more love. I can't help but notice how pretty much nobody is earning any of the trophies for this game -- I feel bad for IO.
Oh wow how cool that I got to be quoted for the single most controversial game on the list lmao. Detroit had a much cooler story than y'all will give it credit for, sorry not sorry.
Yeah it's definitely a shame, it's an awesome genre but it gets far too little love/talk unless there is some hating going on at the other side of the fence.
Anyway, just to put some perspective on things, I know metacritic/opencritic is disliked here but...
Forza Horizon 4 is:
...the highest rated console racing game for 2018, 2017, 2016, etc...all the way back to the PS2 era.
...the 8th highest rated console racing game of all time.
FH4 is also:
...the highest rated PC racing game in 2018.
...the 10th highest rated PC racing game of all time.
It's in the top 5 for 2018 all genres as well and it received 18 10/10 by critics.
And it's "free" through Gamepass.
If nothing else I at least hope that someone out there reads this and decides to try the game. Slow start/tutorial but insanely fun once it opens up.
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I personally feel it's why voting went down in 2012 and 2014, and up in 2013 and 2015. I don't think it's an unreasonable conclusion to draw with respect to 2018, and even if it is, I don't think it's a malicious take worthy of drawing the ire that it has. Maybe it's a dumb take that will look really stupid a year from now, and I can live with that. When I floated it as a possibility earlier in the thread, that's all it was. It wasn't meant to invalidate or discredit anyone's list or the site's overall list, and certainly wasn't presented as fact. Some of the defensiveness I saw in response felt unwarranted, that's all.
I really don't understand this Sony bias narrative some people are trying to push. I mean isn't it common sense and logical that basically everywhere is "Sony biased" considering they have a much higher install base and a ton of critically acclaimed games this generation?
How is it a bias when there's literally far more people who own PS4s and the platform that released the most exclusives this year? Last year was Nintendo biased because they released Zelda and Mario. What a revelation.
If anything it's the bias is towards Spiderman and shows that people just fucking love that character. Even if the game itself wasn't particularly amazing the fact they could play as Spiderman in a modern game with top tier production values is enough to make it their GOTY.
How is it a bias when there's literally far more people who own PS4s and the platform that released the most exclusives this year? Last year was Nintendo biased because they released Zelda and Mario. What a revelation.
If anything it's the bias is towards Spiderman and shows that people just fucking love that character. Even if the game itself wasn't particularly amazing the fact they could play as Spiderman in a modern game with top tier production values is enough to make it their GOTY.
Always the same thing, someone posts something, it's a meltdown. I don't even own an Xbox. The fact is that this forum as a lot of Sony and Nintendo fans, it's a fact. I didn't say there was some conspiracy. There are some people that vote solely because of the brand they're defending. I didn't say that GOW or Spider man got their votes because of it.
I recognize the username, so i'm not surprised with the immediate jump to meltdown accusation.It's like the go to phrase from the likes of you.
News flash - literally every forum or place has a lot of Sony or Nintendo fans because they are far more popular and have a long history of producing quality consoles/games. This is like pointing out the sky is blue or water is wet.
Hey, I decided to add a few charts to the discussion. I wanted to create a thread for it but I am but a wee Junior Memeber and posted it on Medium instead. So StraySheep had a look at the charts and said it could be a good idea to dump them here. Hope you'll like it, it'll give you more to discuss and perhaps a bit different perspective of what is important to games as an industry and an entertainment.
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Officially, RAWG, where I work, launched in its open beta only in February 2018. Since that month, we have aggregated well over 100,000 game ratings which allowed me to tinker with the database and compile a few interesting tops. I present to you the 3 weird games tops according to our users' data in 2018.
The 20 Most Controversial Games
What's the math: These are the games that were equally rated with the highest and lowest ratings. The first place is the game that has a close to 50/50 ratio in ratings.
Naturally, the list includes many online games. Single-player games are represented by Beyond: Two Souls, as Cage's games are always a new wave in digital arts for some and pretentious movies for others. Assassin's Creed III also made it to the list with fully remapped controls, some questionable mechanics, and a Shyamalan-esque story opening. Finally, there is Fallout 4.
The Most "Mixed Feelings" Games
What's the math: The games that got equal shares of all ratings. Same, but different from the previous top.
The 20 Most Loved Games
What's the math: I ranked the games by how many people listed them as "favorites" in their profiles.
It is no wonder that The Witcher 3, The Last of Us and GTA V are there. But then the list gets more interesting. What is surprising though is that Sony's exclusives are so high (the data represents gamers on all platforms). Another curios thing: Bioshock is the only series with two entries on the list.
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I'd be happy to compile more humble stats report like this but I also need some feedback—what would be interesting to read for you as a gamer? How big is the average gamer's backlog? How many games do they complete and buy a year? Do people beat games more or just try them and drop? Drop me a few lines with you ideas in DMs or just reply here. And I hope that it adds to the overall discussion. not mars it. ☺
—————
Officially, RAWG, where I work, launched in its open beta only in February 2018. Since that month, we have aggregated well over 100,000 game ratings which allowed me to tinker with the database and compile a few interesting tops. I present to you the 3 weird games tops according to our users' data in 2018.
The 20 Most Controversial Games
What's the math: These are the games that were equally rated with the highest and lowest ratings. The first place is the game that has a close to 50/50 ratio in ratings.
Naturally, the list includes many online games. Single-player games are represented by Beyond: Two Souls, as Cage's games are always a new wave in digital arts for some and pretentious movies for others. Assassin's Creed III also made it to the list with fully remapped controls, some questionable mechanics, and a Shyamalan-esque story opening. Finally, there is Fallout 4.
The Most "Mixed Feelings" Games
What's the math: The games that got equal shares of all ratings. Same, but different from the previous top.
The 20 Most Loved Games
What's the math: I ranked the games by how many people listed them as "favorites" in their profiles.
It is no wonder that The Witcher 3, The Last of Us and GTA V are there. But then the list gets more interesting. What is surprising though is that Sony's exclusives are so high (the data represents gamers on all platforms). Another curios thing: Bioshock is the only series with two entries on the list.
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I'd be happy to compile more humble stats report like this but I also need some feedback—what would be interesting to read for you as a gamer? How big is the average gamer's backlog? How many games do they complete and buy a year? Do people beat games more or just try them and drop? Drop me a few lines with you ideas in DMs or just reply here. And I hope that it adds to the overall discussion. not mars it. ☺
I would have to disagree with you. I believe it is completely unreasonable to conclude the lower turnout is somehow based on software quality - especially given the high number of incredible games released in 2018.
I didn't end up voting because I felt there were too many big games I hadn't yet beaten (Spider-Man especially), but I just managed to beat it last night and I'm so glad it got 2nd place! Easily my second favorite game of the year, it deserves its spot! GoW in 1st is also right where it should be, planning on starting an NG+ play-through soon (either next or after Horizon NG+).
Hence why i said that GOW and Spider man deserved, i just didn't agree with the fact that having a lot of Sony fans, doesn't influence some of the votes like some people were saying. That said, i would think the same about, let's say Gears of War on the previous gen.
There are people who bought a PS4 just for Spider-Man. It doesn't mean they are biased towards Sony or whatever. This place is a disgrace. One day when Microsoft gets their act together and puts out a couple banger exclusives in the same year this place will be accused of being Xbox biased.
Yeah well the math is there for everyone to see in the OP. GoW got by far the most votes and also by far the most number 1 votes as well, a clear win.
Spidey is a bit different with three times less #1 votes than RDR2. Personally I feel that it's wrong. Lower-voted games on the most owned platform can obviously climb high up on the list simply by being mentioned by the masses. Essentially quantity over quality.
But it all resets next gen anyway. The tide can turn.
What exactly is resetting next gen? Quality games? It doesn't matter the gen if a game is good people are going to vote for it.
Less people will obviously vote if less people owns the new console :P
(unless we get forward compatibility next gen, which isn't likely)
(Or unless people are voting without having even played the game, which can absolutely happen but likely not for the #1 spot)
No, opinions are just opinions, they're not right or wrong.
You seem to be stuck on this idea that RDR2 is objectively better than Spider-Man and that therefore there is some injustice at work. There isn't. The community has a different opinion than you, and that's all there is to it. Get over it.
I'm happy with God of War being #1. That game is a freaking masterpiece. I can't say I agree with Spider-Man on 2 and Smash, on 4, though. I would've swapped their positions. Also, not much love for Horizon 4? That might as well be the best racing game of this gen.
I hope Judgement comes out swinging hard I love those yakuza games (you know what I mean)
Forgot to vote this year but I completely agree with the order of 1,2,3. While RDR2 is a masterpiece in some ways and you clearly see the hours put into the development, I had more fun with God of War and Spider-Man. I loved the characters, visuals, sound and story in RDR2 but didn't love the sluggish feel to the gameplay. I was actually the most hyped for RDR2 before the year began, was looking forward to GoW and really didn't give more than a passing thought to Spider-Man. So 2018 was a bit of a surprise.
I don't know what I was expecting with RDR2 but I might have raised my expectations to unreasonable levels. Don't get me wrong; it's an excellent game. It just wasn't a mind blowing one from a gameplay perspective like the original RDR was at the time of release for me. I still completed it and put at least 70 hours into it.
If I had to put an arbitrary rating on the three I'd say.
God of War - 10/10
Spider-Man - 9.5/10
Red Dead Redemption 2 - 9/10
I don't know what I was expecting with RDR2 but I might have raised my expectations to unreasonable levels. Don't get me wrong; it's an excellent game. It just wasn't a mind blowing one from a gameplay perspective like the original RDR was at the time of release for me. I still completed it and put at least 70 hours into it.
If I had to put an arbitrary rating on the three I'd say.
God of War - 10/10
Spider-Man - 9.5/10
Red Dead Redemption 2 - 9/10
I do appreciate what you're saying and agree to some extent, but it doesn't necessarily mean Spider-Man is less deserving, as ultimately Spider-Man still ended up being more consistently liked or loved overall, whilst RDR2 was somewhat more variable in how people felt about.
A bigger points difference between all positions would have led to a slightly different results though, since the difference between first (4pts) and 2nd/3rd (both 3pts) really isn't much. It just means Era's system ends up inadvertently rewarding consistency to a greater degree, on top of outright no. 1 picks.
Under this voting system the people that decided to vote got collectively to the result that Spider-Man is a tiny bit more popular than RDR2 whereas GoW is quite a bit more popular than both.
The point allocation system is not representative of the feelings that I have about those three games and it could be that others have that same situation. (With those same three games or completely others.)
My approximately subjective feelings tried to be expressed relatively:
God of War > Red Dead Redemption 2 >>>>>>>>>> Spider-Man > Shadow of the Colossus Remake
Converted to the ERA point system:
God of War > Red Dead Redemption 2 = Spider-Man 2 > Shadow of the Colossus Remake
Although I'm hesitant to propose a system that allows one to freely allocate points as I also believe a small percentage of posters is motivated more by getting a "win" than getting a better overall feel of the community as a whole and having ten times the amount of weight for motivated posters (with some of them having alts just for this purpose) may skew it even more than just the self-selection on who participates.
Squabbling over platforms is such a non-issue when you take a single step back. Why aren't the most popular free-to-start games on mobile consistently scoring high on this site? I'm pretty sure that almost everyone on ERA has a smartphone with either access to iTunes or Google Play whereas not everyone has a PS4.
Furthermore Spider-Man is only available on a subset of the total platforms that RDR2 is available on, so their argument didn't even make sense to begin with because RDR2 is the one with the largest potential userbase, not the PS4 exclusive.
Yeah plus the fact that RDR2 has sold more copies on just the PS4 than both Spider-Man and God of War. I guess he thinks that if you're a PS4 owner you just auto vote for Spider-Man and God of War or something. Not how it works.
In general I have sympathy for the argument that some games are over-representative on ERA. But using RDR2 vs Spider-Man is just the very worst selection of two games to make that point.
A year where the Wii U games sweeped the enthusiast GOTY awards is a much better year to make that argument, but it also shows the inverse of his point: That the actual global platform install base is inconsequential to what a japanese-slanted console-first video game enthusiast forum thinks. And that isn't a problem either unless you try to sell it as more than that.
not trying to be provocative, but while i liked god of war, i thought rdr2 was substantially better (on basically every level), so these results are a little surprising to me. i haven't played spiderman so i can't comment on that selection
it's just a matter of taste, i guess 🤷♀️
it's just a matter of taste, i guess 🤷♀️
People just don't like racing games as much these days, it seems. I'm with you though; it was on my list. The WipEout Omega Collection was on mine last year too.
Although, if a game is even in the top 20, I think that is an accomplishment. It still gets recognition.
Well RDR 2 and GoW are both still games and not movies, so the gameplay part is still important to a lot of people. RDR 2 is inferior to almost every game on this list when it comes to gameplay and player agency.
It's really outdated mechanically.
oh boy......The Last of Us Part 2 is gonna be HUGE
Like if you think Uncharted 4, GoW & Spider-man are sales blockbuster...i think last of us part 2 have every good chance to smash those records (if it lives up to expectations)
Hey, I decided to add a few charts to the discussion. I wanted to create a thread for it but I am but a wee Junior Memeber and posted it on Medium instead. So StraySheep had a look at the charts and said it could be a good idea to dump them here. Hope you'll like it, it'll give you more to discuss and perhaps a bit different perspective of what is important to games as an industry and an entertainment.
—————
Officially, RAWG, where I work, launched in its open beta only in February 2018. Since that month, we have aggregated well over 100,000 game ratings which allowed me to tinker with the database and compile a few interesting tops. I present to you the 3 weird games tops according to our users' data in 2018.
The 20 Most Controversial Games
What's the math: These are the games that were equally rated with the highest and lowest ratings. The first place is the game that has a close to 50/50 ratio in ratings.
Naturally, the list includes many online games. Single-player games are represented by Beyond: Two Souls, as Cage's games are always a new wave in digital arts for some and pretentious movies for others. Assassin's Creed III also made it to the list with fully remapped controls, some questionable mechanics, and a Shyamalan-esque story opening. Finally, there is Fallout 4.
The Most "Mixed Feelings" Games
What's the math: The games that got equal shares of all ratings. Same, but different from the previous top.
The 20 Most Loved Games
What's the math: I ranked the games by how many people listed them as "favorites" in their profiles.
It is no wonder that The Witcher 3, The Last of Us and GTA V are there. But then the list gets more interesting. What is surprising though is that Sony's exclusives are so high (the data represents gamers on all platforms). Another curios thing: Bioshock is the only series with two entries on the list.
—————
I'd be happy to compile more humble stats report like this but I also need some feedback—what would be interesting to read for you as a gamer? How big is the average gamer's backlog? How many games do they complete and buy a year? Do people beat games more or just try them and drop? Drop me a few lines with you ideas in DMs or just reply here. And I hope that it adds to the overall discussion. not mars it. ☺
Very interesting. When you say you've collated data from over 100,000 game ratings, from where were those ratings taken from? And when you speak of people's profiles and favourite games you used to calculate the most loved, which outlet or source? Appreciate the data and the post!
I couldn't think of enough games to vote on this year. Really only enjoyed Astro Bot and Tetris Effect while playing Overwatch. I didn't like God of War, didn't buy RDR2 or Spider-man. I want to play Obra Dinn and Detroit though.
Exactly. Not to mention, that these kind of claims always overlook the past, when Nintendo won the GOTY award. It was the same in the old forum as well. Some looked at the forum from their own biased perspective, painting it a Sony hivemind, when in reality it was far from it when the PS3 failed and the 360 triumphed. The forums always mirror the current climate, and favor the most popular platform. It shouldn't be that hard to understand and accept, even if it might sting when your preferred platform isn't preferred to the same extent by others.
Astro Bot is the truth! I'm plying through it for a second time at the moment. I think it's going to turn into one of those games I have to play through at least once a year.
Hey, I decided to add a few charts to the discussion. I wanted to create a thread for it but I am but a wee Junior Memeber and posted it on Medium instead. So StraySheep had a look at the charts and said it could be a good idea to dump them here. Hope you'll like it, it'll give you more to discuss and perhaps a bit different perspective of what is important to games as an industry and an entertainment.
—————
Officially, RAWG, where I work, launched in its open beta only in February 2018. Since that month, we have aggregated well over 100,000 game ratings which allowed me to tinker with the database and compile a few interesting tops. I present to you the 3 weird games tops according to our users' data in 2018.
...
The 20 Most Loved Games
What's the math: I ranked the games by how many people listed them as "favorites" in their profiles.
It is no wonder that The Witcher 3, The Last of Us and GTA V are there. But then the list gets more interesting. What is surprising though is that Sony's exclusives are so high (the data represents gamers on all platforms). Another curios thing: Bioshock is the only series with two entries on the list.
RAWG must be biased. /s
On a serious note, thanks for sharing the data. It's interesting that Bloodborne is there, but not Dark Souls. The same goes for PUPG and Fortnite.
So happy for Detroit .For people who are salty about it ,have you considered that people who play it fall in love with the game ?is that not a possibility? Detroit is the best game that genre has to offer. emotional touching journey that makes you actually rethink your stances.
it is truly an achievement in this medium .
Congrats to Detroit .Only wish it was even higher on the list cause it deserves it .
it is truly an achievement in this medium .
Congrats to Detroit .Only wish it was even higher on the list cause it deserves it .
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