GNamer Forum Awards 2018

= Fire Pro Wrestling World (2 votes, 7 points, 0 firsts)



‘With the absolutely cracking create-a-wrestler/edit mode this is basically a video game version of what I used to do with my toys as a wee boy, you want the Ninja Turtles versus the Thundercats? Go right ahead, how about Bret Hart versus Skeletor? Yup you can do that & in fact think of anyone good or bad and they have probably been created on the FPW website for you to download.
'Did I mention the gameplay is great as well? Matches even have a crowd rating system so you can even work it like it's a proper wrestling match.’

‘The first quality pro wrestling game in years, clearly made by fans of pro wrestling and games, for fans of pro wrestling and games.’


= Marvel's Spider-Man (2 votes, 7 points, 0 firsts)



‘Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can, swinging webs, like Spidey 2, beating goons, like Batman too, look out, here's Marvel's Spider-Man.’

Deltarune (2 votes, 7 points, 1 first)



‘I feel I'd be cheating the full experiences higher on my list as this is quite clearly a preview of things to come, but I'm so excited for what's next from Toby Fox. I mentioned in my Nintendo votes about some other games having incredibles OSTs, but I'd forgotten about the absolute bangers Mr. Fox put together for DR. The dialogue reminded me of why I fell in love with Undertale - nobody gets the Mother series' style of writing quite like Toby Fox. The characters introduced in DR seem like a solid lot... I just want more!’

‘As the only Nontendo game I’ve played this year, this sort of gets a free pass.  But it is good: a return to the tortured mind of Toby Fox, and at the same time an homage to and a subversion of his best known work.  Plus: it’s free.  The main problem is the cliffhanger ending, and the unknown wait time for Episode 2...’  

Red Dead Redemption 2 (4 votes, 18 points, 2 firsts)



‘This is cowboy BotW. I spent so long just rambling the Wild West, hunting animals and causing havoc for the local populace. Rockstar made a brilliant cowboy simulator. When the story pulled me back in, it did so with aplomb - easily my favourite story in a game this year. A haunting soundtrack and some beautiful vistas added to the experience and made this an easy Nontendo GOTY for me.’

‘I think like most games from Rockstar this is over hyped a little and not as perfect as some claim and if it was a straight A to B story driven game it wouldn't even be on my list but all the random stuff you can get up to in this world in-between all of that is just magic.’

Monster Hunter World (5 votes, 20 points, 2 firsts)



‘To nobodies surprise this was my most played game of 2018, not perfect by any means with stuff like not being able co-op the story quests until everyone has individually watched the cut scenes and it has a very poor post/end game loop but despite all that I still came back time and again because hunting these monsters has never felt better and the quality of life changes finally bring the series up to date.  
'My play time of nearly 600 hours should say it all really, I love it to bits.’

‘The only new Nontendo game I played this year, but a straight-up banger which I have no doubts would win anyway. In the moment-to-moment hunting, with these aesthetics and controls and the quality of life changes, this is as good as the series has been. Combine that with those big ol' monster lists (and put it on the Switch, the only good games machine) and you've got the best game right there.’

‘Monster Hunter has never played as well as it does in MHW. Capcom have done a wonderful job of updating the creaking mechanics from the previous MH games and made an experience that's easy for new players to pick up, but still satisfying deep for veterans to get to grips with. A more cinematic MH experience made for a fun time, but I do think I've been spoiled in playing content laden titles like MH4U and MHGen prior to this one as I did find the endgame lacking a bit, which is a huge part of the fun in MH.
'Still, this is a cracking game and I'm very excited for the Iceborne expansion later this year.’

...but nobody else liked their favourite Nontendo game.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider
‘The story is a bit gubbins, but it's the "hey you, pick up all of the stuff on the map" game that I really, really like. The DLC is bloody good value for money so far as well. And it's a game I have played in 2018.’

Sonic Mania Plus
‘A brilliant expansion to what I consider to be a genuine classic.’
(Yes, I know it came out on Switch.  Yes, our voter knew this.  Yes, he wanted to put it in Nontendo anyway.  Yes, he is allowed to.  No, it didn't make a difference.)

A Way Out
Shadow of the Colossus
Yakuza 6

...but none of them got more than five points, or a first place.

FIFA 2019 (5 points)
‘I'm playing a FIFA game where a Watford player has a rating of 80, and I've not even been in the editor. And it's easy to do the flicky-uppy thing like I would do in real life, to disguise my lack of balance or fitness. And it's a game I have played in 2018.’
‘Underappreciated because it’s FIFA. FIFA’s good, and it’s always been good for years.’

Spyro Reignited Trilogy (4 points)
‘Kinda cheating here as I've only beaten 2 out of the 3 games on this collection, but I adore Spyro 2 so much that it's enough to make it on my list. In a year filled with gritty tales of cowboy revenge, rock solid platformers, masochist battles against LVL 9 CPUs and some challenging RPG battles, an easy going platformer was exactly what I needed. Playing through Spyro 2 was a wonderfully nostalgic experience and a blast to play through in the run up to the New Year.’
‘It’s really interesting to see a compilation with this sort of old-school design updated and modernised without losing what made the originals so beloved in the first place. They did really well with this.’

Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 (5 points)

Nothing Else (4 points)
‘That is genuinely it - I've played nothing else on PS4 or Steam that was released this year, thanks to my backlog. And I bought I frickin' expensive PC this year as well. To play my backlog.’
‘I've just been Fallouting recently ’

Burnout Paradise Remastered (2 points)
‘A solid remaster with tons to see, do and enjoy.’

Detroit: Become Human (1 point)
Dragon Quest XI (1 point)
Fallout 76 (3 points)
Florence (2 points)
Forza Horizon 4 (3 points)
Kingdom Come: Deliverance (2 points)
Yakuza Kiwami 2 (2 points)

Yippee!  A podium!  A full podium of five placings of Nontendo games, above everything else!  It worked!  I had to use the first place tie-breaker, and that first place was effectively as the result of being the only Nontendo game that person (cough) had played; but it worked!  Woohoo! What's more, with all ten voters contributing at least one game, it's fair to say that the Nontendo gaming votes have overcome their apparent unpopularity last year.

Only here would MHW beat out two critically acclaimed game-of-forever masterpieces. Only here.  What can I say?  Y'all love the monsters, and I can only hope that Capcom let you continue loving monsters at some point on Switch.  MHW is clearly a blinding carry-over onto the BBoPs, though.

Then we have, as I've said before, two bona fide masterpieces.  I've actually seen more good things about GoW, but it makes sense that 'cowboy BotW' topped our table outside monster hunting.  Anyway, they're clearly both belters, and reflected as such by their placings; albeit nobody deigned to tell us why GoW is a belter.  (Is it still referred to as Dad of Boy, or is that old hat now?)

No prizes for guessing which two ad- er, forumites put Deltarune in their top fives.  Spider-Man coming so low down is perhaps my biggest surprise of these awards; it shares its place with a wrestling game I'd not even heard of, which isn't surprising at all around these parts.  Then it's into various other games, with the definitive head-to-head of 2019 football games going in favour of FIFA 19 by 2 comments to 0, after finishing a dead heat on points.

Good job, team!

(All of the below got one vote each.)

3DS has 2020 vision. 3DS owners certainly don't.
‘I miss GJones.  This was a quality pun.’  

England used Hurry-Kane!  It's super effective!
‘I'm still pissed off about the previous one.’

Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue, On Friday 16th, Get Bayonetta 2
‘Poetry is a surefire way to make me vote for your tagline.’  

Ultimately I just want Bob the cat to be my friend.
‘So do I, Jim.  So do I.  I mean, I want him to be your friend, his personality’s too generic to be mine.’  

Yottayuri Has Arrived!
‘I appreciated this.’

Battleships!  Battleships!  BATTLESHIPS!
beeeeeeerz cocktauls whiskeus and ahhhhhooooooottttttttsssss
Can't let you do that, Orochi.
From Best to Worst: Banger, Belter, Muh, Bobbins, Mince, Pish, Brexit.
Jimbob SquareBants
Now With New Funky Mode
Our Dark Souls pun reserves are Gwyndolin as the list goes on
Though society may shun you for wanting to date pigeons or Yoshiaki Koizumi, there's no judgement here.
We Thought 'The Beast From The East' Was A Nickname For Drunka
When You're the Subject of an Investigation, Of Course Detectives Peek At You

(And finally... )

Secret Santa drawing delayed until Monday 3rd, please stand by...
Secret Santa selection starts Sunday 2nd 'Cember. Submit sign-ups soon!
No but seriously, Drunka's Pokémon vote ends Thursday. Get 'em in.

Why is a Nintendo Direct like Piers Morgan? Isabelle end. (4 votes)



‘This one wasn't bad.’

That's about as focussed as we can expect from a tagline vote, I think...  Thanks for that lads!  Although I'm going to assume a Law of Averages explanation: given the number of taglines that were mine, some of them were bound to come good.  Still, I was chuffed with that one, and I'm glad y'all were too.

(All of the below got one vote each.)

Jay's Paean to Smash



‘Reminding us why Smash guaranteed to be a banger.’


Cappa's PlayStation Power Post



‘All his magazine posts were top class though, always great to look back on stuff you remember and even the ones you don't’


Jaster’s Balloon Trip High Score



‘I thought I was going to win at Balloon Trip but then a wild Jaster appeared.’


Drunkalilly's Trial of the Mountain



‘Any of Drunka's Japan ones, but probably the Up a Mountain Adventure.’


Muss' Smash Suggestion



‘Because it is the only correct answer.’


Treesmurf's Top Physics Gag
Jimbob's Call to Cuddly Arms
Muss' Beyond: Two Souls Review

= Andy Reviews Shenmue (2 votes)



‘The only review I ever needed.’


= Jay Says Hm (2 votes)



‘Every time I watch this I crack up at the last “hmmm”.  The funniest post of this year.’

Jimbob SquareBants (3 votes)



‘The whole "drunka" thing is normally only funny because of what jimbob does after.’

‘How do you make a Drunkenlilly post funnier?  Let Jimbob loose on it, of course. Exquisite.’

Once again, between us we've served up a fine lot of #bantz, utter nonsense, and hard truths over the year.  (The three may overlap.)  However it's that funnyman Jimbob carrying the award again, with an example of wit so blinding that even the post's name (credit to Muss) was in contention for my personal PotY.

My own favourite, though, was one of our second-placers: Jay surely deserves more than the no votes he got for Funniest Forumite, off the back of that belter alone.  More 'Moyles Speaks' please!  The top three are rounded out by Andy showing why he deserved to be in competition for that award as well.

The podium is filled out by a collection of... well, #bantz, utter nonsense, and hard truths.  Or, to put it another way, more excellent GNamer posting.  Here's to more of the same this year!

Balladeer
‘For rejecting my votes’
‘For rejecting my new account in his name whilst he wasn't using it’

JayMoyles
‘For not supporting my in my endeavours to secure the Balladeer username’

Balladeer and JayMoyles
‘For not giving me access to the admin panel and letting me improve the place’

Nintendo Switch eShop
‘It's still a mess and we don't need 30 games a week ported from mobile.’

Nintendo Switch Online
‘It was overhyped and it’s under delivered. I hate that Voice Chat is used in a really daft and inconvenient way, and that the Cloud saves aren’t available for every game for some horseshit reason. The NES library is boring, and there’s no noticeable improvement on the performance of online play from a year ago, back when it was free to use. It’s poor value, even at it’s cheap cost. They’ve dropped a bollock with Nintendo Switch Online.’

Lack of Virtual Console on Switch
‘Sort it out, basically.’

Switch Customisation Options
‘Lads, we're coming up on two years of the Switch and there's still no music on the eShop, no themes... nothing! It's making the Switch UI a sad and drab place.’

E3 2018
‘Whether it’s the cornerstone of the gaming year and should overflow with exciting gaming news, or a relic of a bygone era and culture that’s withered into a marketing device for bloated corporations, E3 2018 was mediocre.  It’s just whether you think that’s a bad or a good thing in the longer-term.’

Gears for Breakfast
‘Well done for bringing (or saying you’ll bring) critically acclaimed and lovable platformer A Hat in Time to Switch!  I trust you got rid of the YouTuber-turned-far-right-nutjob doing one of the voice-acting roles?  No?  O... okay then...’

Not having NGamer in this golden age of Nintendo

Sony
‘This year Sony went back to the late PS2 / early PS3 with there arrogance with censorship, cross-play, awful E3, pulling out of E3 2019, no PSX, lack of fan interaction etc.’

PlayStation Classic
‘It can be enjoyable, but there’s no escaping the fact that this is the biggest gaming disappointment for 2018. Calling it a PlayStation Classic is taking the mick - it’s a PlayStation Okayish-At-Best.’

XBox First Party Offerings
‘This year we basically got three games and two are muh and next year doesn't look much better beyond Gear 5. Sure new studios are great but 2020/21 is when we will see the fruits of that.’

Rockstar/Take-Two
‘For making Red Dead Online a grindy old affair. It had promise too... should have known better after seeing GTA Online.’
‘For trying to make long working weeks and exploitation of employees seem like a positive.’

White men
‘Fucking hell guys.’

England

The world in general

2018
‘Fuck off.’

2018 was another bobbins year outside games, but at least it was great inside games, right?  Weeeeeell...

The Switch has definitely benefited up until now from Nintendo's concentration on games games games, but its trappings are still as mediocre as they were in 2017 - even with, or possible more so because of, Switch Online.  Meanwhile Triple-A developers continue to do Triple-A things, and the creators of the BBoPs, while not being so awful, have arguably not helped much.  

If this paints a bleak picture, don't forget: we have the Honourables coming up soon.  Also, as I write this, HBomberGuy's DK64 stream has raised $230k for a trans charity.  Maybe 2019 won't be as awful as 2018 was.  We can but hope.


Jay and I are great and anybody who says otherwise is pony.