Thanks for organizing this again Bruce. Reading everyone’s choices always puts some games on the to-buy list that end up being great plays.
I did go back and look at 2018. I wonder if with perspective Return of the Obra Dinn would make the top 10 now.
I’m guessing that a strong field gave more than ten alternates to distribute votes to. BG3’s position indicates a tactical, story-rich CRPG occupies public ground, and that seems consistent with previous years’ tallies.
Remakes were celebrated by games media as part of the year’s crop. As good as they are, remakes will garner fewer votes here, I expect, due to more folks having played the original.
What we do know is Starfield lost…badly. That was the only major direct competition with BG3 released a mere month later.
Happy for the 5th place scrappy steal by Jagged Alliance 3. My faith in Qt3 stands.
Posted! Sorry for the delay. We lost power, then we got it back, and then I went away to play a wargame for three days.
Cool to see Star Trek: Resurgence in the top 10! I’ve been avoiding finishing it because I don’t want to not have it to play anymore.
As is sometimes the case, it’s not first place that’s interesting to my eye. For example, Jagged Alliance 3 had totally slipped below my radar, and sounds like it’s probably worth my time. I’d kind of forgotten about Conquest of Eo, too, and wasn’t really aware that Phantom Liberty had so totally turned around Cyberpunk’s fortunes. I need to give Dredge a look, too.
Great showing for indie games this year! (Even if you’re torn on whether BG3 can be called an indie game.)
Also, what a story Larian Studios is. From the most awkwardly titled and forgettable RPG ever (sorry, fans) Divine Divinity to the biggest digital D&D product ever–that’s an incredible transition.
And Jagged Alliance! I would say, “Never change, Qt3!” but clearly we haven’t!
Larian is six studios now. They are massive. And their previous game was already a huge hit. They didn’t actually need the Baldur’s Gate/D&D license. Them making BG3 was kinda like “the rich get richer” scenario. Meanwhile smaller indies like Beamdog had layoffs. There’s always winners and losers, etc.
Oh absolutely, I’m aware that they have had a couple massive hits in a row even before BG3. Fair or not, I think that’s where you have to be to not only get the D&D license, but to be able to let your team cook like Larian did. I’m not trying to sound all sanguine about BG3–honestly, I think it’s likely to lead to the downfall of many more RPG houses just due to the rising expectations. But Larian’s arc is still impressive.
I think what it really proves is that you can pick a niche and do it right and you’ll have great success. Too many companies struggle to realize that.
Yeah, you see a lot of companies trying to pivot to “what is the hot thing now” with live service titles. To truly be great, you need to make a great game that attracts players to it without depending on an existing playerbase/genre. If you put an amazing RTS developer in charge of a live service looter shooter, it is going to fail (I am looking at you SEGA!) If you are having a studio make a game they are not passionate or well seasoned in doing, success is going to be very difficult.
I’m happy for Larian’s success. BG3 is just Divinity Original Sin 2 with a bigger budget; they’ve been refining their formula over the years, and I’m glad there’s an audience for their games. Hopefully, they continue this path and don’t branch out and make a Souls-like or Elder Scrolls type game.
What I wouldn’t mind is their formula applied to a different type of setting, say futuristic/sci-fi. Maybe.
You mean like Bethesda and Starfield?
Been playing Conquest of Eo this week due to this thread. What a delightful game!
Do the full voting results get released?
Personally I would love a party based isometric turn based sci rpg in an engine similar to BG3.
Hard to tell what kind of “tone” that was written in.
If you’re saying how Bethesda took their Elder Scrolls model and made a space game, then, sure, yes.
But for Larian, I was thinking less space game, more like a Shadowrun setting.
If you mean, “…like Bethesda and (that crappy) Starfield?”, I don’t think the problems with Starfield are the application of Bethesda’s gameplay loop, style, or philosophy. Those worked fine in Fallout, after all.
Starfield would be improved if: navigating and entering buildings didn’t have so many damn loading screens; they’d tweak their skill/leveling system which was pretty dull and doesn’t feel rewarding
enough from level to level; it was smaller (they could have set it in a small system with a handful of planets and put much more detail and story into those).
Like Rogue Trader?
Just curious if you tried The Outer Worlds, sounds like it would be up your alley.