590°

Those Aren't "Games of The Year"

The nominees for 2020's Game Awards have been announced. Mike & Alex are here to explain why the bevy of western-style, anthropocentric games dominating the show in 2020 are inferior to last year's entries, and even to Japanese titles conspicuously absent from this list of 'Game of the Year' contenders. Including a discussion of why Half Life Alyx is awful in concept, the sentimentalism of God of War 2018 and why Nioh 2 should be GotY 2020.

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Joshua131237d ago

Honestly, I'm more baffled that One Punch Man is one of the nominees for best fighting games of 2020.

GreenDragonCVR1237d ago

Me, baffled the American made samurai game is nominated for goty but not the infinitely superior nioh 2

phoenixwing1237d ago

aren't the game awards a mostly western centric show with it's viewership/personnel? Most of the people who tune in aren't from japan. It's kind of like complaining at the Oscars that so many of the nominated films are from Hollywood.

phoenixwing1237d ago (Edited 1237d ago )

I also would argue that nioh 2 isn't infinitely superior. I liked both of them and they have wildly different gameplay and presentation styles. In nioh 2 you're kind of operating in mission type hub area thingy and ghost of tsushima is open world.

Christopher1237d ago

Even Nioh fans don't agree with this.

fsfsxii1237d ago

Lmao nah bro team ninja is irrelevant now, they havent made anything great in over 10 years

PhantomTommy1237d ago

I can understand thinking Ghost of Tsushima is superior to Nioh 2 if you have never played Nioh 2 and I guarantee you 90% of the people downvoting you now have never played Nioh 2.

Nominating Ghost of Tsushima for game of the year is like nominating that Mad Max game from a few years back for game of the year, a decent but utterly unremarkable open world game game that no one will be talking about 5 years from now. But you can't say that because this is N4g and it's a Playstation game.

GreenDragonCVR1237d ago (Edited 1237d ago )

I understand the story in Nioh 2 lacks a depiction of the requisite daddy issues or moral finger wagging to appeal to certain western audiences, but @phoenixwing western-centric show or not, Nioh most certainly is the better game, which is (or should be) the point surely. This probably isn't the place to lay out the special merits of soulsborne gameplay, nor the aloof and "cosmocentric" narrative tendencies of "japanese" [style] games (see our website for lengthy discussions of such topics), but for these and infinitely more reasons, the claim is (to us) laughable that a game like Ghosts, (which is a fine work no doubt) is "better". More easily digested? Sure; but still quite like nominating the Mad Max game of a few years ago as @phantomtommy says (and featuring a similar, expansive, unresistant loop drawing on a similarly limited pool of open world activities that quickly become tiresome). Us? We prefer a total lack of distractions and a single, finely-honed totally resistant core conceit that takes the whole game to master, no chance for boredom. We also argue this is an objectively better way to build a game, akin to having the limbs of a body in order and working in unison for one goal, instead of bloated and struggling in different directions, like we might metaphorically find in an open world game where narrative, busy-work and side missions form an incongruous jumbled whole. Even Nioh's loot progression is too much fat for us. Thanks for the omniscient insight into the hivemind of nioh fans @christopher, which (even if they do prefer ghosts, doubtful) doesn't really prove much. Cheers and thank you all very much for your time! Have a wonderful evening. Edited for grammar

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P_Bomb1236d ago

“Ghost of tsushima is much better than Nioh 2”

Not according to the reviews.
https://www.metacritic.com/...
https://www.metacritic.com/...

Hey, if they’re gonna pick a different fave, at least they picked a good one.

RPGer1236d ago

@phoenixwing hollywood is hollywood, Final Fantasy defined RPG for whole industry and localisation is a thing here. Furthermore, didn't last samurai made it and it was heavy western movie? The same should had gone for Ghost of Tsushima. They are so biased and tasteless.

Chexs19901236d ago

Nioh 2 was amazing, but there were some hardcore shortcomings in terms of storytelling and level designs.
It was more of a Nioh 1.5 with a customizable character, while Ghost was more tightly put together in most of it's aspects (outside of some repititive grinds).

Angyobangyo1236d ago

That American made samurai game was praised by Japanese gamers, game critics and developers for its historical interpretation of the Mongol invasion of Tsushima. An American made samurai game has sold 5 million copies whilst Nioh 2 just over 1 million. Whilst both are fantastic games you don’t need to bring ethnicity into this simply because you like one better than the other. It’s petty.

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potatoseal1236d ago

@ PhantomTommy, I platinumed Nioh 2 and Ghost Of Tsushima. They're both different games with different styles of combat. But Ghost OF Tsushima is much more deserving of GOTY than Nioh 2 is.

boing11236d ago

@P_Bomb

Look at user scores and how many there is. Nioh 2 has 893 user votes at avarage 7.9 where Tsushima has 17670 votes at 9.2. Do the math and see what scores it has to have to get 9.2 at almost 18000 votes.

P_Bomb1236d ago (Edited 1236d ago )

“So im not sure why you would use metascore as a basis for your argument here”

You used them down below, talking about Demons Souls. What’s good for the goose...

“Look at user scores and how many there is.”

Meta’s user scores are plagued by zeroes and tens that start popping up the moment a game goes live. Made headlines for Death Stranding and TLOU2, deleting thousands of them.

neutralgamer19921236d ago (Edited 1236d ago )

GreenDragonCVR

News flash vast majority don't play souls type game where you die again and again that's considered fun by very very very small percentage of gamer

PhantomTommy

You completely lost this argument when you compared ghost to mad max. Name me one game that mad max developer made that was considered great? They have been living off the same type games for decades

Just cause average
Rage 2 average
Mad max average

While ghost is a great game and sucker punch in the past have made other great games

Also games are discussed/ nominated by game journalists who review games so they know a thing or two on what games deserve to be on the list. Every game yes even souls like games should have difficulty settings so those who want to experience the world and the story without dying again and again can enjoy the games. Make a default setting just for those who want the typical souls game experience and give noobs and casuals story settings like other much much much more successful games have done. In this day and age stop listening to a very small vocal minority who's against easy settings in games even though they can play on hard if they choose to

GreenDragonCVR1236d ago (Edited 1236d ago )

@neutralgammer1992 sorry we are still laughing at "games journalists know a thing or two on what games deserve to be on the list"; which, the journo that couldn't beat the tutorial in cup head? The one that thought there was too much water in pokemon? The pc gamer editor who (like Paul tassi at forbes, was too much of a baby to finish Sekiro and) thinks games are meant for narcotic amusement (and thus, of course, require an easy mode)? It seems like every conversation on this site at least one person attempts to posit that popularity or what "most people like" indicates quality. Heroin is more popular and no doubt more "fun" (whatever the value of that) than every game ever: if all one seeks (is not beauty nor integrity nor to be captivated but) the greatest pleasure for lowest cost, just resort to narcotics and stop demanding our games be destroyed to accommodate your tastes.

"Journos probably know what they are talking about". Thanks for making our day with that nugget of gold LOL. Edited for grammar

SmokinAces1236d ago

"It seems like every conversation on this site at least one person attempts to posit that popularity or what "most people like" indicates quality."

That's a far more credible reason than all of us just agreeing with you attempting to posit your opinion as the indicator. You thumbing through the dictionary and finding words to make you sound smart doesn't make you right and it doesn't make nioh 2 the better game, the majority have decided and the better game is GoT, time to start dealing with it.

northpaws1236d ago

@GreenDragonCVR

Learn how to put together an argument, one word "infinitely" makes people ignore your statement right away.

I have never played Nioh 2, but if the universal praised Ghost of Tsushima (also my personal game of the year) is infinitely worse than Nioh 2, then it better scores at least 1 million out of 10 in every single review.

frostypants1236d ago

I stopped liking Mario Bros. games when I discovered they aren't made by Italians. /S

Who cares who made it?

Christopher1235d ago

***I can understand thinking Ghost of Tsushima is superior to Nioh 2 if you have never played Nioh 2 and I guarantee you 90% of the people downvoting you now have never played Nioh 2.***

First of all, two completely different games as far as overall gameplay.

Second of all, user reviews and critical reviews denote that Nioh 2 is inferior to the first and likewise similar show that Ghost of Tsushima was overall better than Nioh 2.

Third, no one is talking about Nioh 2 in the news. No one.

Now, while I can 100% get you liking it more, but the users and the media? They don't. And those users include people like myself who have experienced them both.

What I liked about Ghost of Tsushima didn't "shit" on Nioh 2. It was actually what it had in storytelling, presentation, and art direction that sold me. The hack and slash of Nioh 2 isn't the same as that in Ghost of Tsushima, but I don't necessarily feel one is better than the other.

+ Show (20) more repliesLast reply 1235d ago
enkiduxiv1237d ago

I agree that the nominees aren’t particularly strong this year, but Nioh 2 is not GOTY material. Most of what makes it a good title can be found in Nioh 1, it is not revolutionary. If anything, I’d say it was a step back for the series. It’s not bad but not great either.

phoenixwing1237d ago

I mainly liked nioh 2 over nioh 1 for the character creator. Both games are good though.

Babadook71237d ago

Yah. It’s not a strong year. It’s a very strong year.

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GreenDragonCVR1236d ago

This is a fair opinion buddy; we would argue however that being revolutionary is only one of many markers of awesomeness (and some times things can be revolutionary-bad!). Our high regard for Nioh 2 stems from its refined, hyperfocused progression, the epic and mythological scope of its worldbuilding, its biggest improvement along with enemies/bosses on nioh 1 (mythological samurai alt history f yea, also featuring such historical personages as the Sakai clan); the breadth of rpg mechanics which enable you to do exactly what you want (amongst so many possible build optipns) without bogging you down systemically... and of course, how spectacular it feels to play. After finishing DeS, try a fight in Nioh! The feeling of taking multiple actions per second, switching stance, swing, dodge, pulse, the tons of practical judgements the mind is constantly making doing so. It FEELS like a soulslike by ninja gaiden bros. It isn't revolutionary, but iterative instead. Cheers man thanks for your comment!

potatoseal1236d ago

I Platinumed Nioh 2 and Ghost Of Tsushima. Ghost deserves GOTY more than Nioh 2. Nioh 2 just has the great combat. But Ghost has a lot more of everything.

enkiduxiv1236d ago

I will concede that it is far more deserving of a nomination than some on that list.

gamer78041236d ago

these are all picked by a selection of games media, so that tells all you need to know. These aren't really GOTY, just their picks for whatever their agenda or reasoning might be. I don't really care about the awards, just watch some of it for the reveals.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 1236d ago
JEECE1237d ago

Ah, the "I'm special and smart because Japan" argument. It never gets old.

Unknown_Gamer57941237d ago

I can completely understand the frustration of really enjoying a game and knowing that it's underappreciated, but it seems like many individuals in that camp are total hipsters who don't play mainstream games and assume they're trash, or think they're special because they've played a lot of games that a good portion of people haven't. Wishing a great game was appreciated more is reasonable. Having a superiority complex because one's taste in games is different from that of the majority of people is not.

phoenixwing1237d ago

Good games over time usually get acclaim if they're actually good. For instance, Persona and Yakuza games. They kept making them until they got popular with enough of the mainstream because they were consistently good. The souls genre only recently became popular in the past few years but took a steady amount of games and copying of the formula to become mainstream and it stuck because it is good. Of course public taste doesn't give meaning to quality but it usually is an indicator. People may knock on McDonald's but for the affordability to taste ratio its pretty good.

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Unknown_Gamer57941237d ago

@phoenixwing Yes and no. It is true that the series you mentioned have gained a cult following over the years, and many games, even of the Japanese variety have the opportunity to make it big (relatively speaking) if they can make an impression, and I think that's great.

The games I mentioned in my above post are even more niche though, especially The House in Fata Morgana. I highly doubt they would ever be in a position to become known to most people. Even AI: The Somnium Files is no Phoenix Wright, and was never going to be. That's not a statement of quality, but of just how esoteric they are by their very nature. I do not hold it against people for not knowing of them though.

Not everyone lurks N4G everyday and comes across all the articles on upcoming niche titles (which is how I heard about those titles). Had I missed those articles, I probably wouldn't have known about them either. They definitely left an impression on me, but I seriously doubt their ability to reach new fans, especially now that they've been out for over a year. There might be a chance with the otaku and/or VN communities, but I sure as heck don't expect any of my friends to know about them. I'll take any opportunity to talk about them (within reason), but they're far from the only games out there, and far from the only games I've played, even in the year they released.

GreenDragonCVR1237d ago

Who made that argument? We love McDonald's

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GamerBeast19821237d ago

Nope they have the right games and Ghost Of Tsushima deserves to clean up, if not then The Last Of Us 2 easily deserves it too.

Rocketisleague1237d ago

If you're a casual gamer ghosts gets it.

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nowitzki20041236d ago (Edited 1236d ago )

If you are a hardcore gamer the some mobile game get it /s

@billy You got something against RL? Come on bro, meet me outside.

Unknown_Gamer57941237d ago (Edited 1237d ago )

Dude, if I had my way last year's GotY nominees would have included The House in Fata Morgana: Dreams of the Revenants Edition, and AI: The Somnium Files, but I really don't expect niche Japanese games to make it into these mainstream awards in the West. I'm not surprised that 2020 is similar in that regard (even though they are two very different years in other ways).

I don't get too hung up on this stuff, because at the end of the day it's all just a matter of opinions. The only difference is some people are paid for theirs. It's also probably practically mandatory for those individuals to have played most, if not all of the mainstream stuff, but I doubt a similar requirement exists for everything else, if only because it's pretty implausible for someone to play absolutely every game released in a given year, even if their job is gaming-related.

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90°

Sony Launches BAFTA Game Awards 2024 PlayStation Store Section for Nominees

Sony has launched a BAFTA Game Awards 2024 section on the PlayStation Store that lists the different games nominated this year.

Bathyj4h ago

They did.
It's just empty.

I kid, I kid. 🙂

280°

Xbox's Preservation Step Sets A Much-Needed Example, Especially For Nintendo

Hanzla from eXputer inquires: "If Xbox can care about preserving its games and legacy, what exactly is wrong with Nintendo, trying to kill game preservation single-handedly?"

purple1012d ago

Ahh yes the good old game preservation of saving all your games to a removable hhd on the Xbox 360, taking it round your mates house, setting up multiple tvs to
Be met with “save data corrupted, please re download”

Or how about removing 360 games
From the store
, download them now or else, and, better hope to god that save data doesn’t corrupt, or it’s lost for ever

Nice one ☝️

Zeref1d 19h ago

It's better than what Nintendo and Playstation is doing. It might not be perfect but at least they are TRYING. Unlike the others.

DarXyde1d 17h ago

Trying? Take off the blinders for a moment, mate.

1. A failure to preserve games is just that: a failure to preserve games. Don't try to sugarcoat it: NO ONE is doing it properly. Better than awful is nothing to write home about.

2. At the time of this comment, isn't it the case that you need an internet connection to play Xbox games even if you buy physical discs that are hardly in circulation anymore? I don't have a Series X and I can't verify, but I think that is correct. I'm fairly certain you can at least play PS5 games at version 1.0 (not much of a win really when many games require day one patches). I think Microsoft's all digital, licensing approach is by far more aggressive than anyone else's. They really try to push you to game pass where you lose your entire library by umm.... Skipping a month of payments.

I don't think anyone is doing it right whatsoever. Don't get me started on Nintendo, who goes after anyone looking to preserve their games better than they ever would with extreme litigation.

Don't be a simp for any of these companies. Get it together.

PhillyDonJawn1d 17h ago (Edited 1d 17h ago )

@DarX never speak on Xbox again. You lost all credibility with your internet connection comment. Smh you have 0 clue and misinformed yet speaking on something you don't no squat about.

Einhander19721d 16h ago

What has Sony done exactly? You guys keep deflecting to Sony but I am not actually seeing any results, and ai am certain nothing that you can come up with even comes close to what Microsoft has done and what they have tried and failed to do, like tie all your disks to your account on xbone.

Microsoft removed their whole indie section when they moved to the xbone because they were going to only allow games on the service that came from a publisher, id@xbox started after xbone launched and it only exists because Sony embraced indie and Microsoft was forced to cancel their plans and reverse course.

And every single game that was part of games for windows live including disk games (I have gta 4 on disk that won't work) so hundreds of games that use that DRM no longer work unless the company themselves patched it out which of course very few did.

MrBaskerville1d 15h ago

Not trying. Tried. they killed of the backcomp program years ago. They set something up again, but sounds like it's more of an attempt to save the current library on whatever they are planning next. With luck they save everything and more, but let's see. I could see them killing off parts of the OG xbox and 360 libraries. Can't imagine that they would allow us to play Forza 5-7 in the future.

With that said, I do like what they've done and really wish they could have done more.

shinoff21831d 7h ago

Zeref

So killing off physical media is trying what exactly. Ms don't really give a fk if you think they do your kidding yourself.

Profchaos1d 6h ago

They are not trying this team is established for forward compatability the team is. It interested in preserving Xbox or 360 games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 1d 6h ago
isarai2d ago

Is that why Hellblade 2 is digital only?

Zeref1d 19h ago

Just because it's digital only doesn't mean you can't preserve it. Just put it on an external and you have the exact same functionality of what a disc does.

MrNinosan1d 18h ago

Guess you're trolling, but if you actually think that's how it works, I'd recommend buying some braincells.

mkis00722h ago(Edited 22h ago)

Volitile vs nonvolitile data. A disc will not corrupt either. A drive can be corrupted.

Einhander19722d ago

This is just a scammy PR move to distract from the fact they are going digital only and trying to push streaming and subscriptions only.

No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft.

Without discs there is no preservation, preservation can't be done by the rights holders it can only be done by the consumers, anything else is a lie.

2d ago Replies(3)
Einhander19722d ago

Anyone remember xblig which Microsoft removed their whole 360 indie section removing hundreds of games from people?

2d ago
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Zeref1d 19h ago

Do you know you can put your games on an external and preserve them that way? There are no benefits to discs. ZERO. Idk why some of you are still obsessed with them.

DarXyde1d 17h ago

Because games like Persona 5 exist. It's STILL V1.00. On Playstation, that's a win because 1.00 is installed on the disc—no need to download anything.

If a game does not require any updates, it's all on the disc.

Extremely low bar in the modern era, of course. It's not much of a win by any stretch.

But for now, physical media does have a purpose, at least on Playstation.

Einhander19721d 17h ago

That is factually not how game licensing works, try plugging your hard drive into someone else xbox, It's not going to work, and it won't work if the licensing servers ever go down.

Einhander19721d 17h ago

Anyone remember games for windows live.

I have around a dozen games, some on Steam itself that will not work because Microsoft shut off the licensing servers.

BehindTheRows1d 16h ago (Edited 1d 16h ago )

I do. I STILL have games (Gears of War being the big one) I cannot access because Games for Windows LIVE is total garbage and no one has held Microsoft accountable.

Zeref1d 15h ago (Edited 1d 15h ago )

You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership.

Chevalier1d 14h ago

"You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership."

Damn how many times do people got to explain your idiocy to you? You can take a copy of Persona 5 like someone used as an example and play that game on ANY console WITHOUT logging in which means I can lend the game to a friend without internet and they can play my game. Can you lend your hard drive to anyone without logging in for them to play? NOPE. That is a huge difference and if you think otherwise then sorry you're an idiot.

Tacoboto1d 15h ago

"No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft."

Ubisoft is literally erasing games people bought from their libraries... My PS1-3 discs are useless on modern hardware. Nintendo's re-published and resold almost their entire Wii U library, and the eShop is completely dead with no BC mechanism in the Switch software. Microsoft publishes everything they make today day one on Steam and Xbox/Windows. Sony only brings to PC the titles they think you might want some years later and Nintendo won't even design a functional long-lasting joystick.

You're absolutely trolling and not serious if you think Microsoft today is the worst offender.

shinoff21831d 7h ago

Yay steam

Not everyone fks with computers though. The disc is still the best way as a console player. Period.

Tacoboto1d 5h ago

How do Sony and Nintendo feel about these discs from 2001-2013?

Don't be stupid, you know Xbox is the best at this today.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 1d 5h ago
Hofstaderman1d 20h ago

Nobody wants this. Sales or the lack of it in the case of XBOX is very telling. I wonder how the adorably all digital series X will fare. Adorably dismal perhaps?

crazyCoconuts1d 16h ago

Only time will tell, but for from someone like me suspecting that Xbox is trying to gracefully exit the console market, that "forward compatibility" team is trying to get Xbox games playing on Windows PCs. I mean, it's nice that they're not planning on exiting with a "enjoy your games while the hardware still works" message, so that's nice. They still have a brand to protect via Microsoft so probably feel obligated to have a better exit strategy.

Xeofate1d 12h ago (Edited 1d 12h ago )

That is not their plan, their plan is to transfer users accounts to the cloud.

Phil Spencer himself said as much a few months back, plans could have changed but I think people are reading way too much into one statement where Phil said he would allow Epic on xbox because he wants to be able to sell xbox games directly on other platforms. Aka, instead of selling Sea of Thives through PSN he wants to have an xbox store to sell his games on PlayStation without giving PlayStation any money.

Again, it's extremely unlikely that Phil plans to put PC on xbox and licensing would prevent them from just giving out other publishers games purchased on xbox copies of thier games on PC, Microsoft does not own their games.

crazyCoconuts17h ago

The thing that doesn't align with the cloud strategy is the giving up on exclusives. You'd still need strong exclusives for cloud streaming - it's still a "platform" , just with a lower upfront hardware investment. I feel like they've learned what PS learned with PSNow long ago. We're not ready to stream games and it's only gonna lose them money to try at this point

FinalFantasyFanatic1d 1h ago

I would love that, I'd buy up some of the Xbox games if they could run on PC, like the Rare Replay, Lost Odyssey and Dead or Alive Ultimate, probably a pipe dream though.

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150°

The Epic Games Store Weekly Freebie was a Run Away Hit

The Epic Games Store has another freebie ready for your library and it is a free runner.

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