Community RPG Codex 2014 Role-Playing Game of the Year Awards

[I'm Big Into Anal]

yeah when is this creaking edifice of communism going to introduce $$ per word payments to the more esteemed members ie me

 

[Greatness]

I guess D:OS shows how important a good opening is. The game had an amazing first act then went massively downhill to the point that I bet 85% of voters never finished it.

I'd definitely rank Shadowrun and Grimrock higher since they were good throughout their entire run and it didn't feel like I was punishing myself in order to finish them.

Blackguards should be higher than MMX/LoA and WL2 should probably be about equal with them.

Haven't played NEO Scavenger or Heroines Quest yet so I'll get right on that.

All in all this may be the best year we've EVER had for RPGs.

 

[Achiman]

Everything is subjective but here goes.

My personal no.1 was WL2 because it is what I wanted. A big squad based sprawling RPG with an interesting setting and detailed world.

I can't really argue with Div OS though as 1, because it is amazing playing co-op RPG online. Only negatives with that game is not knowing where to go (which isn't really too bad in an rpg anyway) and the humor often misses the mark imo.
Dragonfall was fun, but it's a "fluff" rpg. Only having one or two things to interact with or 2 or 3 npc's in an area and the linear design put me off a bit.

Blackguards is overrated to shit imo. Spectacularly boring weapons and armor. Some of the battles and environment scenarios were very interesting (the gator fight was good) but the game is difficult for the sake of being difficult. It doesn't add anything to have a poison mist that kills ONLY your party members and not enemies in a level. Just shitty design and illogical. 3 out of 5 seems about right.
Haven't played Neo scavenger, however are rogue likes really RPGs? If there is some sort of permanent unlocking that is available as you get further and further into the game (like BOI) I guess qualifies it somewhat.
Good to at least have a list of games that were good though, instead of the slim pickings of previous years.

 

[Arulan]

I can't really argue with Div OS though as 1, because it is amazing playing co-op RPG online. Only negatives with that game is not knowing where to go (which isn't really too bad in an rpg anyway) and the humor often misses the mark imo.
Dragonfall was fun, but it's a "fluff" rpg. Only having one or two things to interact with or 2 or 3 npc's in an area and the linear design put me off a bit.

This was one of the most refreshing things about RPGs this year, not just Divinity: Original Sin. Quest markers are absolute garbage. It was refreshing to have to figure out where to go, do some actual exploring, interact with NPCs for information, etc. For Divinity: Original Sin, this allowed a lot of the quests to have various resolution paths, especially early in the game, and the designer to have to put in natural clues to lead the player to them.

 

[Joni Odin von Hassenstein]

Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that when you take into account storytelling, setting and combat-related it only really excels at the last one.

Just like D:OS.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Interesting results. I should obviously play more.

 

[crakkie]

Where is Serpent in the motherfucking Staglands in the 'most anticipated' section?

 

[Photokoi]

I don't even know what NEO Scavenger is, but I guess I will have to research it.

GET ON IT!!!! Seriously, it's addicting!

I'm really happy neoscavenger got 3rd on Bayesian average. I can't get past minute 30 in D:OS because it doesn't interest me and haven't tried shadowrun, so maybe that is what I should research.

 

[Onholyservicebound]

I'm surprised that this went straight to being the actual RPG of the year poll results.
I was expecting those results to be posted for amusing reactions and then a real poll to be done with codex membership and single votes. (Who knows if it would be different, but it would at least be legitimate.)

Also I voted 15 times on that poll and two of the ones I gave 5/5 made it to the top 2 spots, so that's good.

 

[Ulminati]

Ban Onholyservicebound for being a filthy cheater

 

[Onholyservicebound]

Spoiler

 

[Morality Games]

Ban Onholyservicebound for being a filthy cheater

Doesn't really matter since the #1 spot is all that counts and his 15 votes on D:OS and Dragonfall cancel each other out, effectively eliminating his own relevance in the poll.

 

[Onholyservicebound]

There are 1200+ votes, my 15 votes are but a fraction of all the other fake votes.

 

[Korron]

I think my experiences of later rpgs may have been jaded by D:OS. It did so much stuff right, but it was hard to pick up another game after because I was burned out. I do however think this is a great list, and Larian certainly deserves the recognition (I certainly think it's the most important one) of probably being discussed as a kodex klassik for a long while. I've lurked and started to participate in these forums for a long time, and despite rolling my eyes at a lot of insane manifestoes the dex really is the best place to read discussions on crpgs.

At the end of the day my ranking goes:
1. SR: Dragonfall
2. D:OS
3. WL2
4. Blackguards

It was hard for me to choose D:OS over WL2, but I didn't finish WL2 yet. I don't know if it's because my life has become insanely busy, I'm burned out, or I just feel like WL2 is not a particularly good iteration of something I've seen before. I wonder if a nostalgic kickstarter ties a devs hands a bit and stifles innovation. I do enjoy WL2's good but not great writing compared to D:OS.

SR: Dragonfall though had the best writing IMO, and I guess a good story in a compelling setting curls my toes the most. It had a well managed scope that I respect despite the mediocre combat. On the other hand I'm enjoying the combat in Blackguards way more than WL2, but the story isn't that interesting. I also gave props to WL2 for a more realized world despite thinking Blackguards managed scope better.

What a great year in retrospect though. Brofists to everyone involved in putting this together. I also want to give an honorable mention to Banner Saga and The Shadow Sun. I'm playing both now in 2015 on android, and enjoying them despite the wonky controls. The Shadow Sun feels like another good NWN module like darkness over daggerford.

Spoiler

I fucked up the voting rules.

 

[HiddenX]

I expected Lords of Xulima, Blackguards and Might and Magic X a bit higher, but overall a great top 10, and of course a deserved winner.

2014 was a fantastic year for CRPG fans.

PS: felipepepe I have a social life, a job and I have played more than 20 of these games.

 

[RK47]

All in all this may be the best year we've EVER had for RPGs.

And it's all thanks to Dragon Age: Inquisition

 

[Disgruntled]

Nice, most of those winners are games I have yet to play or finish. That gives me at least 6 months till 2015 has to deliver.

 

[himmy]

Larian Studios
22 mins
Only devs who wore the hazmat suit and spent ages tormenting themselves by reading what the RPGCodex forums had to say about their game will understand how proud we are of winning both the Reader's Choice & Editor's Choice awards on the RPGCodex! Quite possibly the award that means the most to us.

 

[Black]

Didn't vote, doesn't count

 

[Lady_Error]

Might & Magic X should have been way higher. A well done sequel of one of the big three old school RPG series and it's not even in the top 10?

 

[potatojohn]

This is Dragon Age-level disaster here.

The top game is a dull, generic marriage of TB and MMO mechanics with humor that makes anyone over the age of 8 bleed out of their eyes,

The second game is dull, generic tablet game.

 

[Zorba the Hutt]

Might & Magic X should have been way higher. A well done sequel of one of the big three old school RPG series and it's not even in the top 10?

Well, their policy of handing out free keys to the staff at least got them an editor's choice award



Thanks to Zed, Felipepepe and everyone for putting this together. The mini-reviews summed up why it's been such a great year. And good to see a lesser-known game like NEO Scavenger getting some deserved recognition.

 

[Stelcio]

The game's average score was 4.12, the Bayesian average lowered it to 4.02 to compensate for the low number of votes, but it still managed to stay ahead of Wasteland 2 and grab the third place.

I hope the error is in the quoted fragment, not in the table, because if otherwise, NEO would lose its well-deserved 3rd place.

I am pleasantly surprised NEO Scavenger managed to scoop the place on the box. It really is a unique piece of RPG. Divinity's win was a no-brainer, it's a classic already. The thing that tells most about this year is that it leaves probably many of us with that feeling that we have to play those games from top places that we missed somehow.

Thanks to everybody involved in putting this thing together. Cheers!

 

[Darth Roxor]

I'd be fine with any results on the voting as long as MMX was out of the top 10. Which it is, so all is well

of course it would be best if it also wasn't in the top 3 staff picks but you can't have everything with declinefags all around you

 

[vonAchdorf]

Thanks for the work, the insight in the methodology and the summaries for the reasoning for each choice!