The obligatory Game of the Year 2009 thread

[Gen Eric Gui]

OVERWHELMS ME WITH JOY

Campbell the Priest of Soup would like to have a word with you.

And thus we say to Him

RAMEN.

[Eusis]

Though, the more I think about it I'm wondering just where these people bored with DA:O are. Everywhere I've seen a somewhat shocking amount of love for the game, I only really recall Prime Mover not liking it.

[Dincrest]

Eus- I think that supposed large body of people who disliked Dragon Age are merely a vocal minority.  In looking at public opinion across multiple gaming communities, I'd say 85-90% of the general public think Dragon Age is a high quality, high caliber title.  It's just that if a game is highly liked by a lot of people, those few dissenting opinions stick out like sore thumbs and are perceived as bigger than they really are.  

[Sagacious-T]

Dragon Age is an awesome game.

[Jet16]

I also commented that I found Dragon Age to be a bit boring. I think it's the combination of what I found to be a dull world with a mildly interesting battle system. It's hard to get into even a Bioware game if you find the world to be dull and it's gameplay slightly above average. Regardless of my feelings towards the game, I won't deny that it's a high quality title. It certainly has all the Bioware hallmarks, I'm just having a lot of trouble getting into it. I've liked every other Bioware game I've played, so I'm going to stick with it in the hopes that something clicks down the road.

[Lord Scottish]

C? Dats two ppl who say dragon age sucks RITE THAR!!!!!

Seriously, like I said in the beginning of this thread, I'm just happy to see RFF get some props. *hifives kstar*

[macirex]

I´ve yet to know any bad bioware game, not that I´ve played many, but if Dragon Age is like Mass effect then it must be very very good.

Oh god I can´t wait for Mass effect 2, the amount of hype is horrible.

[Kstar]

C? Dats two ppl who say dragon age sucks RITE THAR!!!!!

Seriously, like I said in the beginning of this thread, I'm just happy to see RFF get some props. *hifives kstar*

hehe thanks!  and don't think I didn't have to fight for that one :-)  But I said in the beginning, I am going to put up a fight for RFF because I really think it deserves some mad props.  I played a lot of Wii games this year, and RFF is by far my favorite.  Not to mention, the one I had the most fun with :-)

[Ryos]

Eus- I think that supposed large body of people who disliked Dragon Age are merely a vocal minority.  In looking at public opinion across multiple gaming communities, I'd say 85-90% of the general public think Dragon Age is a high quality, high caliber title.  It's just that if a game is highly liked by a lot of people, those few dissenting opinions stick out like sore thumbs and are perceived as bigger than they really are.  

Those who dislike something are in general going to be more vocal about that, and more often than not the intensity of that seems to coincide with the popularity of the series (hello Final Fantasy!).  I'm not sure what drives a person to be such a spirited hater, but I guess it's better than doing drugs or something.

[Rudo]

I also don't understand what Gen Eric Guy is talking about when he says that most people dislike Dragon Age: Origins.  From what I've seen on the web, the game seems to be loved by a vast majority of gamers.  Those who don't like it are generally people who don't like Western RPGs or people who prefer more "action" in their RPGs and less "talk".  It really all depends on what people like.  Of course if you don't like talking in RPGs, you can't enjoy Dragon Age because most BioWare titles are all about the conversation systems.  However, for those who like western-style RPGs, Dragon Age was an amazing RPG this year and the amount of awards it has garnered this year are a testament to that (not to mention the very high ratings in reviews almost everywhere).

It's also possible to like both style of games.  If you look at my Top 5 for this year, my favorite was Dragon Age but I also really loved Suikoden Tierkreis and Half-Minute Hero.  So even though I agree with Gen Eric Guy that Suikoden didn't get enough love, I think there's no doubt that Dragon Age is a quality title that deserves the award this year as it was liked by everybody on staff who played it.  The person who liked it the least still rated it 85% so that says something.  As for Suikoden, I think it was a victim of too many DS RPGs coming out this year.  I think only 3 staffers played the game so that's why it didn't get enough votes to win anything.  Sometimes stuff like that happens.  Unfortunately, every staff member can't play EVERY game so there's bound to be some good games here and there that don't get enough recognition.  That's just the way it is.

[Gen Eric Gui]

It's very possible that the groups I've been hearing are the vocal minority that hated Dragon Age, but I've seen it posted enough times that it certainly didn't feel like a minority to me.

[Eusis]

It doesn't really seem like GTA4 at least, which was almost unamoiously praised by critics, but had a more lukewarm reception from everyone else as far as I could see.

[Ashtrot]

It's very possible that the groups I've been hearing are the vocal minority that hated Dragon Age, but I've seen it posted enough times that it certainly didn't feel like a minority to me.

Ever hear of the term "Hasty Generalization"?

[Noobien]

Talk about a clean sweep for the DS...

[Hoshino_Kid]

Well to be honest, I'm looking forward to RPG Fan's GotY 2010 (even if the year has just started!) because there are lots of RPGs on consoles and handhelds that are coming out this year. :P