Five Game of the Year Candidates Everyone is Ignoring

Ray Porreca of Entertainment Buddha writes: "Let’s face it; whenever December rolls around, the most common phrase on the tip of any video game fanatic’s tongue is ‘game of the year’. As passionate fans of the industry, the gaming public takes great stock in what is regarded as the best title of the year – often debating the topic with a fervor normally reserved for Presidential elections.?

[DCfan]

"They're niche games nobody knows about"
-some so-called gamers

[DoctorJones]

Yeah, so-called gamers.

*spits

[3-4-5]

FE:A was a really good game

[SegaSaturn669]

I thought Shin Megami Tensei 4 was a good game, but compared to SMT3, it was crap.

[MadLad]

I loved Deadly Premonition, but it charm doesn't hide the fact that it doesn't compete with truly stellar releases of today. I've always likened it to the best Dreamcast adventure game that was never released.
That doesn't quite make it 2013's game of the year. Especially being just a recent port.

Persona 4, as good as it is, falls into that category as well. Should definitely be up for handheld game of the year, but it is little more than an updated port and I don't feel those should count as a new release.

I would almost say Ni No Kuni falls into that as well, though I can't really say how it compares to the DS release and it was the first US released game in the series so it really should slide.

[DCfan]

P4G was more than just an update. Have you played thegame to begin with??

There was added content to qualify it as such.

[MadLad]

It was the base game with improvements. Information on the game is readily available on the internet.
I don't own a Vita, personally. I plan on owning one soon enough and I will probably be grabbing the game with it.
At the end of the day, it is still Persona 4 and really shouldn't be treated as a game of the year contender for 2013.

[Hicken]

Sorry, but Persona is a LOT more than an updated port. Even as it feels familiar, it feels like a completely different game. It's not on the same level as an HD remake, or even the Sigma releases of Ninja Gaiden that came with an extra bit of content.

P4G is very nearly a completely different game. It's as if P4 is telling the story from one person's account, and then P4G is God's version of what happened, leaving nothing out. They're the same, but SO not.

And Ni no Kuni... it's not even the same game. Again: average person's point of view versus God's all-encompassing account. That's the difference.

[MadLad]

Am I aware of the bulk of the story having played the originals?

[Hicken]

Are you aware of the bulk of a book, having watched the movie?

[MadLad]

That's far from the same thing. This port is far from that difference in narrative.
Also, it would still be the same story, just more in-depth.
That's sort of my point. It's an experience already had, maybe just built upon a bit. Not a new work though.

[Chevalier]

Why is everyone talking about persona 4 when the article is talking about shin megami tensei 4?

[Sanquine90]

Ni No kuni, SMT 4 and Fire emblem<3 My 3ds and ps3 love ones!

[Ravenheartzero]

Love ni no kuni, my favourite game this year

[Wni0]

Jesus deadly premonition is so bad. Like literally take Alone In The Dark, add a better story and make the controls worse and you pretty much have Deadly Premonition.

Crappy unresponsive controls, bland graphics, voice acting that might have made the b sides to a lifetime movie and level design = to that of Clive Barkers Jericho... but it has an intriguing story? Well shit better give it GOTY. Yeah that makes sense.

Waste of my hard earned cash, after the reviews I thought it would be a better Alan Wake, but it turns out it was really just a fart of a dying corspe. Game journalists, you suck. This is article #31 elevating DP when really there should be actual objective reviews warning people to stay clear if they want a game that doesnt feel like its still in the alpha stage.

[McScroggz]

If you actually read any reviews, you would have known that technically the game is atrocious - even compared to late-gen PS2 games. In fact, the game was designed to purposefully recreate the experiences of games like Silent Hill and Resident Evil...which of course would be antiquated by then. It's pretty clear you aren't in the small group of people this game targeted.

Besides, it was $20 on Xbox 360. You are complaining like you bought some expensive collector's edition. It's your fault you clearly didn't look into the game at all before buying it.

And don't tell people what they should and shouldn't like.

[Persistantthug]

Small correction there.

Deadly Premonition was not $20 when it launched. It was a $50-60 game.

[McScroggz]

@Persistantthug

Well, according to the Destructoid review circa 2010 it's a $20 budget title: http://www.destructoid.com/...

If there was a period of time before then when the game cost more then fair enough; but my understanding is there wasn't such a time. As for the PS3 version, which I own, I bought it new for $40, which is a little more of an investment. But I researched the game enough to know what I was getting into.

Hence I wasn't disappointed.

[Wni0]

Thats the whole point of a review! Its to advise your readers on whether or not the game is worth buying. Actually refute my points not just be a zombie. The level design is Jericho bad. The controls are worse than Alone In the Dark. The graphics and art direction is pathetic. Those are the main factors which should be held to, !NOT! "Technical issues aside, DP is a great game." You cant just fu*king gloss over the horrendous qualities of a game just because one factor is great. I think I bought the game for $40 bucks at the time. DP is objectively a terrible game - it really is. If you love it, well fuc* yeah! I love Ace Ventura and some questionable music, but jesus christ I'm not going to go back in time and convince academy voters it deserves best picture. DP praise is almost on par with Skyrim or Dark Souls this gen, while those two games are better, the amount of hogwash that cluster Fs around is astounding. The best videogame this year is TLoU, but there's no way I'm giving it on a normal scale higher than an 8/10. DP belongs to the 2s and 3s. Like you said, in the bargain bin.

[McScroggz]

"Thats the whole point of a review! Its to advise your readers on whether or not the game is worth buying."

There are two types of reviews for Deadly Premonition. The first is clearly what you would say (I'll even use your own words), "The level design is Jericho bad. The controls are worse than Alone In the Dark. The graphics and art direction is pathetic..." and, "DP belongs to the 2s and 3s."

The second set of reviews basically say, "Technically, objectively Deadly Premonition is a terrible game. But it has a certain charm, a certain archaic horror game quality mixed with such obvious homages to Twin Peaks that if you fall into the admittedly very niche group of gamers who love the original Silent Hill/Resident Evil games, Twin Peaks/David Lynch movies then you'll love this game."

So honestly, I resent your tone. You act as if you were hoodwinked, fooled by reviewers you chose to trust. But if in both types of reviews it's made abundantly clear how technically flawed the game is who can you blame other than yourself? If you didn't actually look at reviews for Deadly Premontion (which I have a strong suspicion you didn't) then all it would take is a look at the back of the box to see the types of visuals to can expect. Hell, the first line on the back is, "Visit the mysterious town of Greenvale in the most critically polarizing game of recent times."

So did you see that and not think, "Hey, maybe I should do a modecum of research on this game and see if I would like it." Because clearly you didn't, and now you're lashing out at it in a very immature fashion.

Look, if you or anybody else doesn't like Deadly Premonition that's fine - it's an extremely niche game. But please don't act like your are the purveyor of fine arts opinions because you clearly don't get what Deadly Premonition tries to do. I loved old school Survival/Horror games. I love Twin Peaks. I love this game. I know it's technically terrible, but I can see past the mostly purposeful game design choices and enjoy the entirely unique experience that the game has to offer.

Also, to insinuate that the small contingent of people who really love this game even comes close to the throngs of people who lavish unrelenting praise for Skyrim is laughable. Looks man, I love Skyrim, but let's not pretend like Skyrim is a bunch of phenomenal game design because if you want to be "objective" then Skyrim is objectively a bunch of mostly adequate game systems thrown together in an expansive, open world that offers a type of freedom and depth in lore few games (if any) can match. But break Skyrim into it's different segments and you'll find the game other than a couple categories isn't all that fantastic.

Is the melee combat good? Absolutely not. Is the story well told? It's reasonable and inoffensive. Are there interesting characters? Not really. Are the graphics great? They are decent for such an open world, but only slightly above average in general. Is the level design smartly crafted? It's pretty basic.

But you know what, after all that is said and done, Skyrim has a certain charm, offers a certain amount of freedom that ultimately overcomes whatever faults and technical issues the game has. You know what other game that could be said about...yeah, Deadly Premonition.

Art is subjective. Not objective.

Lighten up dude.

[Relientk77]

Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch,

[Yep]

Handhelds (or at least the 3DS) have been putting out more stellar games than consoles this year yet I feel like they constantly get swept under the rug. Not sure if it's lack of enthusiast from journalists or something else.

[RoseSapphire]

Ni No Kuni is the only real candidate from the list. The other games are good but not GOTY good.

[wtopez]

I find that the game of the year candidates will often have a big ad campaign and budget.

[Persistantthug]

JOURNEY? (2012)

[Croman2704]

Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch