Community MetaCouncil's PC Games of the Year Awards 2019

[Wok]

Welcome to the second PC Gaming MetaCouncil GOTY (Games of the Year) awards! The main award focuses on PC games which we deem GOTY worthy. This year, we will also vote for the Game of the Decade 201X (2010-2019), as well as the best ongoing game, the best Early Access game, and the best VR game. It is also possible to vote for the most disappointing game in a separate category.

Previous Year's Results: Community - MetaCouncil's PC Games of the Year Awards 2018 | Results

To cast your ballot, read the rules first and send me a PM to ask for a link to the Frama form.

The categories for voting are:

• Game of the Year 2019 Award
• Game of the Decade 201X (2010-2019) Award
• Ongoing Game of the Year (optional)
• Early Access of the Year (optional)
• VR Game of the Year (optional)
• Turd of the Year (optional)

GOTY Award:

• Up to 5 choices can be submitted (ranked voting without point):
  5th Choice
  4th Choice
  3rd Choice
  2nd Choice
  1st Choice
• For the 1st Choice, you will need to write a short text to explain why you have chosen it as your GOTY. It could just be a sentence, do not worry.

GOTD Award:

• Up to 10 choices can be submitted (ranked voting without point):
  10th Choice
  9th Choice
  8th Choice
  7th Choice
  6th Choice
  5th Choice
  4th Choice
  3rd Choice
  2nd Choice
  1st Choice
• For the 1st Choice, you will need to write a short text to explain why you have chosen it as your GOTD. It could just be a sentence, do not worry.

Other awards:

• Ongoing, Early Access, VR, and Turd of the Year are all optional voting criteria, one vote for each criterion.

Eligibility:

• Any game fully released on PC in 2019 is eligible for Game of the Year. This includes remakes and remasters, provided that there is a new executable. Episodic content is eligible for GOTY if the last episode was released in 2019.
• Any game fully released on PC between 2010 and 2019 is eligible for Game of the Decade. This includes remakes and remasters, provided that there is a new executable. A remake/remaster/update of a game released during that time frame will count separately only if both versions are currently available to purchase on Steam, e.g. DARK SOULS™: Prepare To Die™ Edition is not eligible, as it is no longer available to purchase, you should vote for DARK SOULS™: REMASTERED instead. Episodic content is eligible for GOTD if the last episode was released in the correct time frame.
• Any game released prior to 2010 which received content updates between 2010 and 2019 is also eligible for Game of the Decade. New content can be in the form of patches, DLC or general updates, but not bug fixes. (i.e. League of Legends and Minecraft are eligible)
• Any game fully released prior to 2019 which received content updates in 2019 is eligible for Ongoing Game of the Year. New content can be in the form of patches, DLC or general updates, but not bug fixes.
• Any game released into Early Access (or equivalent) on PC in 2019 is eligible for Early Access of the Year.
• Any game fully released on PC in 2019 which requires or recommends the use of a VR headset is eligible for VR Game of the Year.
• Any game fully released on PC in 2019 is eligible for Turd of the Year. We're looking for the worst games.
• As MetaCouncil is a predominantly English language website, any game getting an English translation in the correct time frame can be eligible.

To prevent mix up, please copy the title of the game you wish to vote for from Steam (or other platform if only available there) precisely, including trademark notices, e.g. if you want to vote for RE7, put 'RESIDENT EVIL 7 biohazard / BIOHAZARD 7 resident evil' into the voting form, or if you want to vote for Witcher 3, put 'The Witcher® 3: Wild Hunt' as that's what it comes under on Steam. I will be parsing the votes to try to get everything counted, but this sort of consistency will help.

Do not...

• Do not choose a game from previous years (Ongoing ) or from future years (Early Access) as part of the GOTY section.
• Do not choose a game from future years (Early Access) as part of the GOTD section.
• Do not submit the same game more than once in the same category. This only applies to GOTY and GOTD, separately.
• Do not vote twice, if there is a problem contact me.

You can...

• You can choose VR games for the GOTY/GOTD sections.
• You can submit games from any PC store front (Epic, GOG, Origin, Steam, etc.).
• You can submit less than 5 games for GOTY, but you must submit at least 1 game.
• You can submit less than 10 games for GOTD, but you must submit at least 1 game.

Other small notes

• Any rogue ballot or tampering will result in the ballot being disqualified.
• Do not share the link, it is only for you and it is to verify who has posted.
• If there is a problem, please contact me.

Deadline: Sunday 19th January at 00:00 GMT / Saturday 18th January at 19:00 EST.

 

[Panda Pedinte]

I submitted my vote and I can't wait to see the results.

 

[Stevey]

Done mine

 

[QFNS]

Got my vote in. Thanks Wok for organizing it!

BTW for those copy-pasting, here are a few you might care about both for this year and for the decade that have weird characters in the Steam titles:

Sekiro™: Shadows Die Twice
DARK SOULS™: Prepare To Die™ Edition
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire
NieR:Automata™


Not really apropos of anything. Just being helpful =)

 

[Ascheroth]

This year is weird because a lot of games I want to put on my list came out very late in the year and are very long, so I haven't finished most of them and I don't think I'll finish them before voting time is up.

Also Wok
古剑奇谭三(Gujian3)
SaGa SCARLET GRACE: AMBITIONS™
have a Steam release date of 2018 but only came out in english in 2019 so they should still count for the vote.

 

[Wok]

古剑奇谭三(Gujian3)

Ok. English was added on November 14, 2019. This information does not appear on IGDB, but I will take it into account.

SaGa SCARLET GRACE: AMBITIONS™

The data on IGDB indicates that this one was released in 2019 on PC. So, there should not be any issue.

I don't know why the release date on Steam is different. I guess publishers are free to provide whichever release date they want for the meta-data on Steam, without any consistency. With info available on SteamDB and only 62 Steam reviews, it is clear that the game was not sold on Steam before Dec 3, 2019. This reinforces my opinion that I should rely more on IGDB than on the Steam store for matters of release dates.

 

[Ascheroth]

I don't know why the release date on Steam is different.

The Steam release date is correct, but it was region locked to Japan and only available in Japanese. The western release only happened this year.

 

[Flips]

My GOTY top 5 in alphabetical order: Disco Elysium, Metro Exodus, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Songbird Symphony, Resident Evil 2.

My GOTD top 10 in alphabetical order: Batman: Arkham Asylum, Disco Elysium, Dishonored 2, Divinity: Original Sin 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Hellblade, Life is Strange, Mass Effect 2, The Witcher 3, The Wolf Among Us.

The top 10 was tough. My top 10 doesn't necessarily feature the best games I have played over the past 10 years but at least games I still think about. Other lists/the final list will probably feature one or two games I have forgotten about that would have made my list otherwise.

Someone just told me that Arkham Asylum released 2009. RIP

but the GOTY edition released in 2010, so I'm good. I think.

 

[Wok]

Someone just told me that Arkham Asylum released 2009. RIP

but the GOTY edition released in 2010, so I'm good. I think.

Keep in mind that the GOTD rules are slightly less restrictive than the GOTY rules.

• Any game fully released on PC between 2010 and 2019 is eligible for Game of the Decade. This includes remakes and remasters, provided that there is a new executable. A remake/remaster/update of a game released during that time frame will count separately only if both versions are currently available to purchase on Steam, e.g. DARK SOULS™: Prepare To Die™ Edition is not eligible, as it is no longer available to purchase, you should vote for DARK SOULS™: REMASTERED instead. Episodic content is eligible for GOTD if the last episode was released in the correct time frame.
• Any game released prior to 2010 which received content updates between 2010 and 2019 is also eligible for Game of the Decade. New content can be in the form of patches, DLC or general updates, but not bug fixes. (i.e. League of Legends and Minecraft are eligible)

Unless someone is opposed to it (feel free to post below if so), I think the GOTY edition of the game could be eligible, as:

• it seems to follow at least one of these two rules (it is an update and one cannot purchase the original version),
• the release date on Steam is written as 2010.
  
  
• the wording for marketing the game is "remaster" (maybe fake advertising, I don't know, but still): "Critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham Asylum returns with a remastered Game of the Year Edition, featuring 4 extra Challenge Maps. The additional Challenge Maps are Crime Alley; Scarecrow Nightmare; Totally Insane and Nocturnal Hunter (both from the Insane Night Map Pack)."
• there are separate entries on IGDB.

Batman: Arkham Asylum - Game of the Year Edition | IGDB.com

Critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham Asylum returns with a remastered Game of the Year Edition, featuring 4 extra Challenge Maps. The additional...

www.igdb.com

Batman: Arkham Asylum | IGDB.com

Using a great variety of gadgets you must make your way around the island, and the asylums halls to find and stop the joker. The game uses a 3-button...

www.igdb.com

 

[Le Pertti]

Wait, Minecraft is eligible. Well that's it then.

 

[Wok]

So far, 14 people have voted. I have not yet.

Last year, at roughly the same period, 19 people had voted. The poll turnout ended up at 48 votes.

 

[Stevey]

Anybody who doesnt vote gets reported

 

[Le Pertti]

I'm thinking that games that I have played more than once, which I rarely do, should automatically be considered for a spot in game of the decade list.

 

[Wok]

This is one of my criterion as well: my games of the decade have to be memorable, or even better, re-playable.

If I don't remember much of the game story (if there is one), then it is likely not memorable.

If I would not feel like re-playing the game, then there must be better options for the same spot in my personal ranking.

 

[Milena]

I can't decide if I should just limit one game per franchise on the GOTD list, or pretty much fill my list with The Witcher, Deus Ex and Dishonored

 

[lashman]

or pretty much fill my list with The Witcher, Deus Ex and Dishonored

 

[Bonfires Down]

I can't decide if I should just limit one game per franchise on the GOTD list, or pretty much fill my list with The Witcher, Deus Ex and Dishonored

I wonder if Wild Hunt will take this. Feels like only Dark Souls could really threaten it, but... we’ll see.

 

[Ascheroth]

Alright, form has been filled.

My votes:

Year

1. 古剑奇谭三(Gujian3) : While it is undoubtedly unpolished in certain areas, it is oozing ambition and confidence and has continued to amaze me time and time again.
2. Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Complete Edition
3. Devil May Cry 5
4. SaGa SCARLET GRACE: AMBITIONS™
5. Touhou Luna Nights

Decade

1. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd: Set upon a foundation of 150+ hours, the 3rd is masterful culmination of the Trails in the Sky saga and so much more. My all time favorite JRPG as of yet.
2. The House in Fata Morgana
3. Umineko When They Cry - Question Arcs
4. NieR:Automata™
5. Undertale
6. Ys Origin
7. DARK SOULS™: Prepare To Die™ Edition
8. Hollow Knight
9. Subnautica
10. Yakuza 0

I have not finished Gujian, Digimon and Scarlet Grace (tbh I'v barely played Scarlet Grace). I usually don't like to put games I have not finished on my lists, but since all three of those are massive and came out late in the year, I simply I have not had the time to finish them yet so the ranking is a bit preliminary.

 

[Wibblewozzer]

I sent the PM but is there a reason you don't just link the form hidden behind a like or reply requirement? That maybe cuts down a little on the amount of participants. Not that it's a hard step to PM you but it's easy to see that step and just think, "Eh, I'll just do that later."

 

[Wok]

I have copied the process from another place. I guess that it is to have a better understanding of who submits what, because there is no authentication process. If the link is in the open, it would be harder to make sure that someone has not voted in place of several people.

Not that I suspect anybody here would tamper with the vote, but there will always be trolls, and it would only require one lurker to tamper with the process which you suggest.

lashman, maybe we could ping people site-wide a few times before the poll ends to make sure the net is as wide as possible? So far, we are roughly on par with last year's vote, in terms of turnout (20-25 votes as of right now), but the poll will end on Jan 19 2020 instead of Jan 20 2019, so the poll duration is slightly shorter. Ideally, a ping on the 14th, 16th and 18th?

 

[Wibblewozzer]

I have copied the process from another place. I guess that it is to have a better understanding of who submits what, because there is no authentication process. If the link is in the open, it would be harder to make sure that someone has not voted in place of several people.

Not that I suspect anybody here would tamper with the vote, but there will always be trolls, and it would only require one lurker to tamper with the process which you suggest.

lashman, maybe we could ping people site-wide a few times before the poll ends to make sure the net is as wide as possible? So far, we are roughly on par with last year's vote, in terms of turnout (20-25 votes), but the poll will end on Jan 19 2020 instead of Jan 20 2019, so the poll duration is slightly shorter. Ideally, a ping on the 14th, 16th and 18th?

Would you have a problem with people sharing the form link privately or do you prefer to handle it all yourself? Because I could PM the link to people in Discord that want it pretty easily, too.

 

[Wok]

I would prefer to handle it myself. Imagine that you share the link, then the voters who got it that way should send me a PM to tell me that they have indeed voted, which would not be so different from the current process. Moreover, even if they did that, given that the link to the form is private, there could be man-in-the-middle attacks.

I mean, I need to make sure that there is no phantom voter one way or another. We have ~700 members, many of whom are inactive, so there would be no way for me and for the voters to ensure that there was no tampering attempt.

I have seen on SteamEra two years ago how some people are really serious/aggressive about their preferred game and its ranking on GotY lists, and it really surprised me at that time. I could see some of these people do stupid stuff to ensure that they get what they want. This is why I am trying my best to keep it under control.

If you people think that I am doing too much and that it is limiting the number of voters (we had 48 last year, and we should be roughly on par this year), feel free to tell me below.

 

[Bonfires Down]

Certainly, when I tried to do the classic GOTY voting through Google forms, the number of votes dropped by quite a bit. So most people want things as easy as possible. I think another factor is that people don't like to rank things in general. Probably, if I were to do this, I would just let members list up to 10 games in a post and make a ranking by number of mentions. But I understand that you have an outside system set up that you want to use and that you can't just post the link for anyone to use.

 

[Wok]

Certainly, when I tried to do the classic GOTY voting through Google forms, the number of votes dropped by quite a bit. So most people want things as easy as possible.

I can understand this. The easier the vote, the higher the participation.

I think another factor is that people don't like to rank things in general. Probably, if I were to do this, I would just let members list up to 10 games in a post and make a ranking by number of mentions.

The issue with getting rid of the ranked voting (Borda count as on NeoGAF/ResetEra, or Schulze method as done here) is that we would lose all the information from preferences, and the result would lose some flavour in my opinion. Some people complain that GOTY lists are popularity contests, and it would be even more the case.

However, it should be possible to allow the people who do not want to rank games to submit their votes unranked. At least with Schulze method.

 

[「Echo」]

Requested a ballot. Hopefully more people vote!

At least as many as last year would be nice.

 

[Wok]

Right now, we have ~30 voters. I think it should be doable to reach ~50 like last year by the end of the week, because many people vote in the last two days.

 

[Amzin]

Wok if I submit a VR game for "VR Game of the Year" should I not include it in my main GOTY list or does it not matter?

 

[Le Pertti]

Ugh I've been so out of it for a few days now that haven't sorted my list at all! But four days to go... sorry Wok !

 

[Wok]

Wok if I submit a VR game for "VR Game of the Year" should I not include it in my main GOTY list or does it not matter?

It does not matter. The rule only applies for GOTY and GOTD (independently, i.e. a game can of course appear on both lists).

That means that you should not submit the following, even if you really love Hitman:

GOTY

1. Hitman
2. Hitman
3. Hitman
4. Hitman
5. Hitman

Or, if you really love Minecraft:

GOTD:

1. Minecraft
2. Minecraft
3. Minecraft
4. Dark Souls
5. Divinity Original Sin

Ugh I've been so out of it for a few days now that haven't sorted my list at all! But four days to go... sorry Wok !

Do not put too much work into it. :cpc_lol:

 

[xxr]

Is there a link to the form?

 

[lashman]

Is there a link to the form?

you need to send a PM to Wok and he'll send you the link

 

[xxr]

you need to send a PM to Wok and he'll send you the link

I tried that but I'm met with a "You do not have permission to view this page or perform this action."

 

[lashman]

I tried that but I'm met with a "You do not have permission to view this page or perform this action."

you don't have to ... just hover over his username in my post and there's a link there ... or go to your PMs and create a new one and input his username there

 

[xxr]

you don't have to ... just hover over his username in my post and there's a link there ... or go to your PMs and create a new one and input his username there

Thanks, I'll try this later.

 

[lashman]

Thanks, I'll try this later.

no problem

 

[Wok]

I tried that but I'm met with a "You do not have permission to view this page or perform this action."

Which privacy setting is responsible of this? lashman

 

[lashman]

Which privacy setting is responsible of this? lashman

"View your details on your profile page"

 

[Wok]

"View your details on your profile page"

It is set to "Members only". Shouldn't it be okay?

 

[lashman]

It is set to "Members only". Shouldn't it be okay?

correct

 

[xxr]

It is set to "Members only". Shouldn't it be okay?

I don't think I have enough posts to view any profiles.

 

[lashman]

I don't think I have enough posts to view any profiles.

that might be it ... but you can still send him a PM regardless using the methods i mentioned

 

[xinek]

I don't think I have enough posts to view any profiles.

Yeah, I can't view anyone's profile. It's a peon thing.

 

[Wok]

There are currently 37 voters. You have 3 days and a half left to make your voice heard.

 

[Dragon1893]

Also submitted my goty/gotd vote. I only played 3 PC games released in 2019 so it was just a matter of deciding the order. For gotd I narrowed it down to 1 per franchise to widen the scope of the list. I hope I didn't leave out anything I'd regret not including.

 

[Ge0force]

My GOTY:

Horace
Dirt Rally 2
Oxygen not Included
My Time at Portia
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair

GOTD:

TW Warhammer 2
R6 Siege
Grim Dawn
Dark Souls
Pinball FX3
Dishonored 2
Metro 2033 (Redux)
Alien Isolation
Wolfenstein TNO
Invisible Inc

 

[Wok]

We have reached 40 voters.

 

[xinek]

Submitted mine -- it was a bit sparse, because a lot of my top games either weren't released on PC or I didn't play them on PC. I'll try to do better this year/decade.

 

[Parsnip]

I haveth voteth.

Lists

GOTY 2019:

1. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
2. Resident Evil 2
3. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
4. Greedfall
5. Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom

GOTD:

1. Portal 2
2. Obra Dinn
3. The Witcher 3
4. XCOM 2
5. HITMAN
6. Darksiders
7. Talos Principle
8. Shovel Knight
9. Dark Souls 2
10. Mass Effect 2

 

[Kvik]

I bought most of 2019 games I wanted but I only played a few to completion.

Anyway, I've submitted my ballot.


PC Gaming MetaCouncil 2019 GOTY

#1. SaGa SCARLET GRACE: AMBITIONS

Scarlet Grace takes the time-honoured turn-based formula we are already familiar with and improve it in the way that is both refreshing and tactically challenging. By doing away with exploiting elemental weaknesses but rather manipulating turn order and positioning, Scarlet Grace's battle system is unlike any other RPGs released this year. The almost sandbox-like world exploration where danger and humourous stories are lurking in every corner in equal measure is also one of the many highlights this game offers.


#2. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy


Games of the Decade 2010 - 2019

#1. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd (2017)

The ultimate chapter of Trails in the Sky trilogy, 3rd revealed some of the well-kept secrets of Zemuria while saying goodbye to some of the characters we've all familiar with. They're not lost forever, however, because they'll make their appearance in subsequent games, but Trails in the Sky series marks the beginning of a long-running series with amazing world-building, memorable character and interesting lore which are still getting discussed at great length, even today.


#2. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC (2015)
#3. NieR:Automata (2017)
#4. Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA (2018)
#5. Yakuza 0 (2018)
#6. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age (2018)
#7. Divinity: Original Sin 2 (2017)
#8. Shadowrun: Dragonfall (2014)
#9. Deus Ex: Human Revolution (2011)
#10. XCOM 2 (2016)

 

[xxr]

Oh my god, I forgot to put in a vote for The Witness as GOTD.

Can someone put this in their form, so all order is restored? Thanks!