Video Game Awards 2015

The nominations have just been announced. I'll post them all here and comment at the very end.

Game of the Year
Bloodborne (FromSoftware / Sony Computer Entertainment)
Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (Kojima Productions / Konami)
Super Mario Maker (Nintendo)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt Red / Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment)

Developer of the Year
Bethesda Game Studios
CD Projekt Red
FromSoftware
Kojima Productions
Nintendo

Best Independent Game
Axiom Verge (Tom Happ)
Her Story (Sam Barlow)
Ori and the Blind Forest (Moon Studios)
Rocket League (Psyonix)
Undertale (tobyfox)

Best Mobile/Handheld Game
Downwell (Moppin / Devolver Digital)
Fallout Shelter (Bethesda Game Studios | Behaviour Interactive / Bethesda Softworks) Lara Croft GO (Square Enix Montreal / Square Enix)
Monster Hunter 4: Ultimate (Capcom)
Pac-Man 256 (Hipster Whale / Bandai Namco Entertainment)

Best Narrative
Her Story (Sam Barlow)
Life Is Strange (DONTNOD Entertainment / Square Enix)
Tales From The Borderlands (TellTale Games)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt Red / Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment)
Until Dawn (Supermassive Games / Sony Computer Entertainment)

Best Art Direction
Batman: Arkham Knight (Rocksteady Studios / Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment)
Bloodborne (FromSoftware / Sony Computer Entertainment)
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (Kojima Productions / Konami)
Ori and the Blind Forest (Moon Studios / Microsoft Studios)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt Red / Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment)

Best Score/Soundtrack
Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
Halo 5: Guardians (343 Industries / Microsoft Studios)
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (Kojima Productions / Konami)
Ori and the Blind Forest (Moon Studios / Microsoft Studios)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt Red/ Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment)

Best Performance
Ashly Burch as Chloe Price (Life is Strange)
Camilla Luddington as Lara Croft (Rise of the Tomb Raider)
Doug Cockle as Geralt (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt)
Mark Hamill as The Joker (Batman: Arkham Knight)
Viva Seifert (Her Story)

Games for Change Award
Cibele (Nina Freeman)
Her Story (Sam Barlow)
Life Is Strange (DONTNOD Entertainment / Square Enix)
Sunset (Tale of Tales)
Undertale (tobyfox)

Best Shooter
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 (Treyarch / Activision)
Destiny: The Taken King (Bungie / Activision)
Halo 5: Guardians (343 Industries / Microsoft Studios)
Splatoon (Nintendo)
Star Wars Battlefront (DICE / Electronic Arts)

Best Action/Adventure Game
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)
Batman: Arkham Knight (Rocksteady Studios / Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment)
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (Kojima Productions / Konami)
Ori and the Blind Forest (Moon Studios / Microsoft Studios)
Rise of the Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics / Microsoft Studios)

Best Role Playing Game
Bloodborne (FromSoftware / Sony Computer Entertainment)
Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
Pillars of Eternity (Obsidian Entertainment / Paradox Interactive)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt Red/ Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment)
Undertale (tobyfox)

Best Fighting Game
Guilty Gear Xrd –SIGN– (Arc System Works / Aksys Games)
Mortal Kombat X (NetherRealm Studios / Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment)
Rise of Incarnates (Bandai Namco Entertainment)
Rising Thunder (Radiant Entertainment)

Best Family Game
Disney Infinity 3.0 (Avalanche Studios / Disney Interactive Studios)
LEGO Dimensions (Traveller's Tales / Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment)
Skylanders: SuperChargers (Vicarious Visions | Beenox Studios / Activision)
Splatoon (Nintendo)
Super Mario Maker (Nintendo)

Best Sports/Racing Game
FIFA 16 (EA Canada / Electronic Arts)
Forza Motorsport 6 (Turn 10 Studios / Microsoft Studios)
NBA 2K16 (Visual Concepts / 2K Sports)
Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 (PES Productions / Konami)
Rocket League (Psyonix)

Best Multiplayer
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 (Treyarch / Activision)
Destiny: The Taken King (Bungie / Activision)
Halo 5: Guardians (343 Industries / Microsoft Studios)
Rocket League (Psyonix)
Splatoon (Nintendo)

Most Anticipated Game
Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Computer Entertainment)
No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
Quantum Break (Remedy Entertainment / Microsoft Studios)
The Last Guardian (GenDesign/ Sony Computer Entertainment)
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog / Sony Computer Entertainment)

eSports Player of the Year
Kenny “KennyS” Schrub (Counter-Strike Global Offensive / Team EnVyUs)
Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok (League of Legends / SK Telecom T1)
Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer (Counter-Strike Global Offensive / Fnatic)
Peter “ppd” Dager (Dota 2 / Evil Geniuses)
Syed Sumail “Suma1L” Hassan (Dota 2 / Evil Geniuses)

eSports Team of the Year
Evil Geniuses
Fnatic
Optic Gaming
SK Telecom T1 Team SoloMid

eSports Game of the Year
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Sledgehammer Games / Activision)
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)
Dota 2 (Valve)
Hearthstone (Blizzard Entertainment)
League of Legends (Riot Games)

Trending Gamer
Total Biscuit
Christopher “MonteCristo” Mykles Greg Miller
Markiplier
PewDiePie

Best Fan Creation
GTA V – Targets (Hoodoo Operator)
Real GTA (Corridor Digital)
Portal Stories: Mel (Prism Studios)
Super Mario Maker e-Reader Levels (Baddboy78 / theycallmeshaky)
Twitch Plays Dark Souls (Twitch Community)

My Thoughts

All that's left is to comment on each one, so here goes.

Game of the Year: All five nominations here seem pretty solid, nothing wrong here. Super Mario Maker is a little iffy, but the rest I'm okay with, although Fallout 4 from what I've heard of some of the reviews here wasn't as good as the previous ones. While I haven't played it and I never will, my GOTY nomination would probably go to The Witcher 3, but if I have to pick a game I played personally, I'd go with MGSV.

Developer of the Year: Nintendo was a bit underwhelming this year, but considering the stunt they pulled off, people might just vote them. I'd say leave Nintendo to next year when all their major games and the NX come out. Personally, I would vote for either CD Projekt Red, because of how well-received their game was and how respectful they were of their fans, or Kojima Productions as a big middle finger to Konami, though more likely the former.

Best Independent Game: I feel bad for forgetting that Ori and the Blind Forest came out this year. I'm not familiar with Her Story, but the other four games are all very well-received titles. Axiom Verge sadly didn't get as much attention as it deserved, so I hope it has a big chance at least. Personally, I think you all know that I'll be voting for Undertale, because dang that was a really good game. Rocket League was fun, but I wouldn't exactly call it best indie of the year.

Best Mobile/Handheld Game: At least it's slightly better than last year's lineup considering the sheer amount of wonderful handheld games we got last year with only Bravely Default being nominated from the 3DS pool, I'll give it that. This year has been pretty slow on handhelds, though why Lara Croft GO and Pac-Man 256 are in that list, I have no idea. Fallout Shelter I hear was good though I can't say for sure. Downwell was actually a pretty fun game, though Best mobile game worthy? Not entirely sure. I'd probably just vote for Monster Hunter 4 because, well, there's not much else there.

Best Narrative: Okay, all of these games had pretty good stories. Unfortunately, I have played none of them. I think the competition will be at its most between Tales from the Borderlands, The Witcher 3, and Life is Strange. I'll be content if any of these win.

Best Art Direction: Now I'm not exactly sure what they mean by that, but if this is based on graphics....well I couldn't say. I've only seen most of these games through Youtube videos and MGSV I played on the lowest settings possible on my PC (though it did look really freaking awesome at my friend's house while maxed out). Ori does have a very intriguing art style so it's got that going for it. I think I'll skip this one if it really is based on graphics. If it's based on design, well....probably Bloodborne. Those monsters looked terrifying.

Best Score/Soundtrack: Fallout 4, MGSV, and The Witcher 3 all had wonderful soundtracks this year. I did not hear the OST of Ori nor Halo, so I can't exactly vouch for them. I'll probably end up voting for either MGSV and The Witcher 3. Probably the latter because most of MGSV's best songs are licensed music not available on the OST disc.

Best Performance: I've played none of these games, and I've seen none of these actors perform. Nnnnnnext!

Games for Change Award: I'm disappointed that Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes isn't on this list, but nonetheless, at least Undertale is on there. I'm not sure about Cibele, Sunset or Her Story. Life is Strange is...a little I suppose. I think I'll vote Undertale for this one too.

Best Shooter: Well, it's widely accepted that this year has been a pretty dull year for shooters. Splatoon is the only game that I believe should be worthy. I would personally say that MGSV and Fallout 4 should have been on this list, but considering that they're in other categories, it makes sense why they're not here. Black Ops 3 was alright but it had a few issues with it, Halo 5 was underwhelming, Destiny.....well, I'd rather not lose myself to a rant. Star Wars Battlefront isn't even out yet, god damnit, EA, stop bribing our judges!

Best Action/Adventure Game: Metal Gear Solid V is the best action game this year, no contest. Syndicate was okay, Batman was good but not great, both Rise and Ori were pretty good but, c'mon, Metal Gear man. Also, did people just forget that Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition exists? Well, it is a remake so maybe that’s why it’s not on the list.

Best Role Playing Game: I thought Bloodborne would end up in the action category, but I guess not. Well, all five games are pretty strong, so I wouldn't exactly object to anyone of them. I'm personally glad that Pillars of Eternity and Undertale are on there because they do deserve the recognition. Well, Undertale has already been nominated for several other things, and frankly it's the one game that plays the least like an RPG. I'd vote for any of the other four aside from Undertale, most likely either Bloodborne or The Witcher 3. Still, I want Pillars of Eternity to have a good chance.

Best Fighting Game: This year has been pretty snooze on fighting games. Guilty Gear Xrd came out last year, but if it's fair game for it to be on this list, I would probably vote for it, though I think Mortal Kombat X would most likely win considering that it's a lot more popular, and the whole drama aside, it was a pretty good fighting game. Rise of Incarnates was a disaster and I don't know what Rising Thunder is.

Best Family Game: I frankly don't know about this one. I am familiar with Splatoon and Super Mario Maker, and to be frank, they aren't really considered family games per say. Maybe LEGO Dimensions? I dunno. I think I'll stay away from this one.

Best Sports/Racing Game: PES 2016 got on there after its launch disaster on PC? No thank you! I would personally vote for Rocket League considering that it's the only sport game that I actually did have fun watching, though I did hear Forza Motorsport receive favorable praise. I'll still vote for Rocket League.

Best Multiplayer: God help me if Destiny wins again...well, I guess this time around they did improve a few things, but still. I'll probably vote for Splatoon through all the events and free updates. Halo 5 was, as I said, quite disappointing, and Black Ops 3...not quite sure about that one.

Most Anticipated Game: The lack of Persona 5 disappoints. A lot. It's not that the games on this list aren't hypeworthy, but...I can think of many other games that people are impatiently waiting for even more than some of the choices on this list. Final Fantasy XV, Kingdom Hearts III, Final Fantasy VII Remaster, Shenmue 3, Persona 5, Star Ocean 5, Nier Automata, The Legend of Zelda Wii U, and the only game that makes it on this list is The Last Guardian? For shame, VGA. For shame. Oh well, I'll vote for The Last Guardian then.

eSports Player of the Year: Not my field so I'll leave this one empty.

eSports Team of the Year: Same thing. I don't watch esports.

eSports Game of the Year: I'd prefer if at least one fighting game from last Evo made it here. Oh well, I'll skip this one too.

Trending Gamer: As much as I still do respect Totalbiscuit, I don't want him to win this year. He won last year, so give more room to the other nominees. I understand that his terminal cancer condition is serious, but please don't vote for him out of pity. Do it only if you truly believe that he made an impact this year. Frankly, I think his impact was bigger last year. Anyhow, I actually want Markiplier to win this one, and I was surprised that he wasn't nominated on last year's list. Mark did a lot this year and I really feel that he deserves it.

Best Fan Creation: I'll vote for Twitch Plays Dark Souls because it was the funniest thing to happen this year out of this list.

Well, if I had to summarize, I'm guessing marketing has a huge ploy in deciding what goes and what doesn't on all these lists. A lot of these nominations are pretty iffy, but some of them do look pretty genuine. Anyhow, I sure hope it all turns well.

Okay, the event is over, we got some new trailers which I still need to check out, but for now let's move on to the winners of the the Video Game Awards of this year.

Game of the Year
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt Red / Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment)

Looks like my bet was right on the money. For all intents and purposes, The Witcher 3 broke a lot of Western RPG standards and raised the bar even higher. I'm very happy this game won. Kudos to CD Projekt Red.

Developer of the Year
CD Projekt Red

And kudos to them again. I definitely stand with this choice considering all the free DLC they pumped out not to mention the really good expansion for The Witcher 3 that all players loved.

Best Independent Game
Rocket League (Psyonix)

I'm a little bit hurt that Undertale didn't take this, not to mention that Rocket League was an updated version of a previous game (with less content) making it the game that I wanted it to win the least, but oh well. Rocket League is still a pretty good game and a lot of people like it, and I do too though I prefer all the other games over it. I just wished that any of the other four games won this award instead, especially either Undertale or Axiom Verge.

Best Mobile/Handheld Game
Lara Croft GO (Square Enix Montreal / Square Enix)

The 'hardcore' handheld gamer inside me wanted Monster Hunter to win for all kinds of biased reasons, but apparently that didn't come to pass. Kudos to Square Enix I guess, although this is one game I won't be playing any time soon.

Best Narrative
Her Story (Sam Barlow)

Holy crap! For an indie game to take best narrative right off the bat, between all these critically-acclaimed AAA titles, this game must have a really gripping story to do this. How on earth did I ever miss this game?

Best Art Direction
Ori and the Blind Forest (Moon Studios / Microsoft Studios)

I kinda wanted Bloodborne to win, but Ori is still a very visually-appealing game that deserves this award just as much or maybe even more. Congratulations to Moon Studios.

Best Score/Soundtrack
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (Kojima Productions / Konami)

Not so sure about this one honestly. I do really like the in-game soundtrack, and I love Donna Burke and David Bowie's (it's his song but performed by someone else) songs in this. However, the in-game soundtrack was never included in the official soundtrack, which is a pretty big disappointment because there are a lot of really good songs on it (The Final Countdown off the top of my head). Maybe this was only about the other songs? I still think the Witcher 3 should have taken this instead if that were the case. Well, at the very least we didn't end up with a video-game with a super generic orchestral soundtrack as the winner (looking at you, Halo 5).

Best Performance
Viva Seifert (Her Story)

I DEFINITELY need to check this game out at some point. Again, indie performance topples some of the biggest actors'.

Games for Change Award
Life Is Strange (DONTNOD Entertainment / Square Enix)

I personally wanted Undertale to take this, though I knew that Life Is Strange has a much broader appeal, and frankly that game did have a ton of new ideas as well. I'm very happy with this one as well.

Best Shooter
Splatoon (Nintendo)

The only shooters that did not disappoint this year (although nothing particularly fancy) were Splatoon and Call of Duty Black Ops III (shocking huh?), so either of those winning was good enough for me although I definitely would have preferred if Splatoon was the one to win (which it did). I definitely loved the new ideas Splatoon introduced and I do hope to give it a try someday.

Best Action/Adventure Game
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (Kojima Productions / Konami)

Oh boy, my buddy Alex is not going to be pleased at all. Then again, for as much sins as this game committed in terms of story, bad design decisions, and cut content, it was still an incredibly engrossing experience and a pretty darn good game (even if Alex may disagree strongly). Anyhow, this is a decision I'm happy with personally considering that this is my favorite game in 2015 (I didn't play a lot of games this year, just this and Undertale).

Best Role Playing Game
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt Red/ Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment)

Would have liked this award to be given to Bloodborne instead in case The Witcher 3 won GOTY, but nonetheless, still quite happy for The Witcher 3; it deserves every bit of recognition for what it accomplished.

Best Fighting Game
Mortal Kombat X (NetherRealm Studios / Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment)

Everyone saw this coming from a mile away. It was either Guilty Gear Xrd or Mortal Kombat X, and guess which one is more popular? Frankly, being an Arc System Works game, I definitely have to lean towards Guilty Gear more, although Mortal Kombat was still a pretty good fighting game. Well, despite all the sins it committed in terms of monetization. Actually, Guilty Gear's monetization is also pretty awful too what with Revelator coming out soon.

Best Family Game
Super Mario Maker (Nintendo)

Every game on this list required you to buy a toy of some sort, though at the very least they were a wee bit more optional for Super Mario Maker (not so much for Splatoon since they had some heavy gameplay content locked behind them). In any case, I'm happy Super Mario Maker got this award, though I wouldn't have objected to any of the other games aside from maybe LEGO Dimensions. I guess the winner was which game shilled you out of your money the least.

Best Sports/Racing Game
Rocket League (Psyonix)

You have no idea how freaking funny this is for me. I mean, the actual dedicated sports games just lost to the completely unrealistic one. Frankly, Rocket League isn't entirely innocent of doing the same thing its previous entry did, although that first entry never came to light not to mention that Rocket League DID at least improve on it in a few areas. Well, I do know a few people who are big fans of Forza Motorsport, and I'm sure they're not that happy about this. Oh well, I hate sports games so I support this winner. Good job, Rocket League! Good job!

Best Multiplayer
Splatoon (Nintendo)

Okay, Splatoon is pretty fun and all, but there are still tons of missing options and features that you would normally expect in a shooter. Despite how innovative the game may be for the genre, its team-based coordination experience is probably the most sub-optimal here. Maybe this was based on different factors? Like how fun it was or how much free content this game god? Well, I really don't know. I think this is an odd choice. At the very least, it's the most fun to play out of the list.

Most Anticipated Game
No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)

I'm not very interested in No Man's Sky myself considering that it's a procedurally-generated game, but I could be very wrong and this game could really blow me away. I'm personally more interested in The Last Guardian since it's from JapanStudios, and Horizon Zero Dawn because frikkin' robot dinosaurs!

eSports Player of the Year
Kenny “KennyS” Schrub (Counter-Strike Global Offensive / Team EnVyUs)

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

eSports Team of the Year
Optic Gaming

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

eSports Game of the Year
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)

I don't follow e-sports so  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Trending Gamer
Greg Miller

I definitely need to check out what Greg Miller has been doing this year. I know it was something very different, but I have not even a single clue what it is.

Best Fan Creation
Portal Stories: Mel (Prism Studios)

It's Portal so I definitely need to keep my eye on this one at some point. I personally voted for Twitch Plays Dark Souls, but I'm guessing the winner for this category is a lot more serious than that.

And that about wraps up the Video Game Awards for this year. Man, this was a really huge step up from last year. It's hard to say just how much corporate was involved in choosing the winners considering that the AAA games we got this year were generally significantly better than the previous one, where people found it easier to call them out in case one of the better smaller games lost in certain categories to the bigger AAA ones. Nonetheless, 2015 was a really good year for gaming especially on the AAA side of things. I'm definitely very happy about most of the winners here. Anyhow, see you all next year and happy holidays.