I don't usually do a Game of the Year, as I usually don't play games that can really measure up to that title. But this year I played some of the big games, so I thought I'd put my two cents in. I played a few games this year, but the big ones were Ni No Kuni 2, Dragon Quest 11, and Red Dead Redemption 2. While I don't think Ni No Kuni 2 counts, as good as it might be, I do feel Dragon Quest 11 and Red Dead are superb games.
I loved Dragon Quest 11. It's definitely the best Dragon Quest, and while I loved VIII, 11 is just SO much better.
Red Dead, as one of the biggest games of the year, is of course in the conversation. This sprawling sort-of cowboy simulator is truly great.
While my heart would choose Dragon Quest any day of the week, ultimately my brain wins out and I have to choose Red Dead at my GOTY. The game just does too many things so well and has brought joy and fun to too many people to not pick it. Red Dead is a great, great work.
Of course, I definitely recommend both games to y'all. While not everybody is going to love these games, these were definitely the best for me.
I still haven't finished DQ XI at 170 hours. The post game has so much in it that calling it "post game" doesn't really make a lot of sense. If you haven't completed it you are missing a lot of the game. It is my GotY for sure. Red Dead doesn't make the list for me because I'm not into cowboy games but "to each...." as they say.
I'm gonna get back to DQ after the holidays. I do miss it.
My Game of the Year blog will go up sometime in January. My GOTY may be a bit of a surprise, though. Not what you might expect. Care to take a guess?
Hmmm, I don't know! I'm looking forward to it, yours are always interesting!
Wait, why would Ni No Kuni II not count?
I still haven't played more of DQXI yet. I'm only a hour in. I was initially not overly impressed with the visuals. Also, why are there still save slots in games? Seems so old fashioned to me now.
I kind of wish my friend Mark had a PS4. It's more fun when we're both competing to complete a game like Dragon Quest. We did that with VIII. He won and beat it, and I burned out before finishing it.
I think this was intended for mothman, but I'm still gonna chime in to say I like having different save slots. What if I want a friend to experience the game without erasing my own progress? What's wrong with save slots?
John, it autosaves, too. A lot, even when you wish it wouldn't. But I like having different save slots, so I can take risks and if they don't work out, I can go back to the point where I made the stupid decision and do something different.
Oh yea, I forgot about that strategy in rpgs. I generally avoid it because it reminds me I'm in a game. ha ha. I want to fool myself it's real life.
I'm with Peter. I have no interest in RDR2, but DQ XI was definitely my favorite new game I played this year.
Yeah DQ is pretty awesome.
Never got the love for DQ8. The character development/class system was non-existant compared to previous DQ games. It was like a regression to the primitive days of JRPGs. I hear 11 is the same, but the world and charactes look 100 times better from what I've seen *shrug*
Rockstar needs to put their mission structure to bed. Just imagine how next level this shit would be if the missions weren't so stiflingy rigidly scripted and they embraced simulation more thoroughly. It would pretty much blow all open world AAA away by orders of magnitude. Imagine mssions playing out with the freedom of a Hitman or Phantom Pain or Deus Ex 
My GotY is Kenshi, a game that was ten years in the making. Can't even describe it. One of the best descriptions I've heard is "Mount and Blade in budget Vvardenfell (Morrowind's world)" Also throw in survival simulation, RTS elements, 4x strategy, RPG. It's low budget and janky, but there is really nothing like it right now.
I've heard of Kenshi. I've monitored it for a couple years while it was in development, and it's been on my Steam wishlist. I would definitely like to check it out, you're the first person I know who has played it.