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Untitled Goose Game wins GOTY at the GDC awards
- Thread starter Poutine
- Start date
To answer your question, yes. My enjoyment of the game is not dictated by the presence of memes. It was one of the best games I played last year.
I consider the GDC awards to be the more important awards show over TGA, because the votes are made by actual developers. While I'm not sure if Untitled Goose Game would be my personal GOTY pick, it undoubtedly left a very positive impression on me and countless other developers, so the award definitely feels warranted.
I wasn't there for the first time, I guess! Just disregard my post if it's been covered endlessly already, apologies
Completely undeserved, of course, but well done to the team I suppose. I found it to be incredibly shallow and trite, the same hokey pap from a few years ago I thought and hoped we had moved past, but I am glad that there are those who enjoyed it more than me.
EDIT'd to be less about it's reception - utterly baffling though that may be to me - and more about the game itself.
EDIT'd to be less about it's reception - utterly baffling though that may be to me - and more about the game itself.
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You're going to have to remind me. Which part of the expertly created sound design, excellent art style that perfectly services the game, unique gameplay hook for the genre and just generally being excellent at what it set out to do makes it undeserved again?
Oh, is this where I have to walk you through every point of the gameplay, and then juxtapose it against every other game I played in the year? No. Some people didn't like it. I found it lacking and shallow.
If you want to go in with some daft hottake and call an award given by the game development community completely undeserved, yes, people are going to ask you why.
And if you're going to pretend like people somehow can't not like a game - even one given an award! - I don't know what to tell you.
no one said you can't dislike it, but saying the others who liked it (and are giving it awards) were somehow "fooled" is not the same as saying you didn't like it.
That's true. I guess I should edit my original post to be less directed at those who did enjoy it.
This post is just gross.
You can dislike a game (and even loudly say so, in a thread about it winning an award, if you really want to be that person) without saying that the development team is somehow pulling a fast one on critics and "fooling" them into liking their obviously inferior game.
I was very excited for this game and found it to be immensely underwhelming and shallow. It's continued success among critics and developers completely baffles me.
I also don't know why anyone would assume or imply that the developers "fooled" anyone or "pulled a fast one."
I also don't know why anyone would assume or imply that the developers "fooled" anyone or "pulled a fast one."
The game looks great and sounds amazing too. The use of the music to create a sense of mischief is wonderful. But I found the actual gameplay part of it lacking. It felt very constrained, like if you pushed the game too far it snapped back into place like an overstretched rubber band. The potential is there to cause havoc and make you feel clever in an immersive sim style, and I feel this would've enhanced the comedy of the game tenfold, but as it stands the game is just very one note in its gameplay and objective style. More than anything I feel it's a missed opportunity.
If people disagree, fair enough. Obviously a lot of people do. But I personally wouldn't have given it any GOTY awards. Maybe sound or visual awards. But congrats to the developers anyway!
If people disagree, fair enough. Obviously a lot of people do. But I personally wouldn't have given it any GOTY awards. Maybe sound or visual awards. But congrats to the developers anyway!
I really don't understand. This game is not good.... it's just a funny demo. I really think this is a disservice to the industry...
Probably something to do with the sunk cost fallacy. Some people really don't like to see their faves beaten, especially when the game that ends up winning the award doesn't have the same production values, is shorter and cost less which somehow makes their purchase of another game mean less. Or something, I'm sure there are other reasons too.
"Completely undeserving, of course" as if the devs hoodwinked us and people didn't really enjoy the game or think it was well designed, directed etc.
What even is "hokey pap"? Just a synonym for 'things I don't like'?
House House and UGG are just as deserving of this award as any other game voted for by their industry peers would be.
Because of DICE this seemed the most likley outcome because the only difference between DICE voters and GDC is that GDC is strictly developers while DICE allows people who are in the business of making games but aren't actually developers vote.
Devs really like this game.
Devs really like this game.
It's wild how, somehow, UGG was nowhere near taking most other GotYs, wasn't even in the running at other notable award processes, but it wins a few and all of a sudden it's sacrosanct to say anything against it. I do not believe it deserved it, as I do not think it's a good game at all.
It's a fun concept that is executed and animated well, but as a videogame UGG really doesn't offer much and is often more of a chore than a rewarding experience. But that may just be me.
Still, congrats to the devs.
Still, congrats to the devs.
Can you tell me where I'm saying people can't criticise or not like the game? If you don't like it, fine, but your critique is just very lazy and underdeveloped for someone who is implies that everyone who likes it has been hoodwinked.
As I asked before, what is "hokey pap"? Why is it "of course" undeserving?
I didn't know my critique needed to be any more developed than the praise people are giving it in this topic. Maybe I should have posted a honk and a frowny face.
Anyway, as I said above, no, I'm not interested in getting into it more, because that gets into a whole thing of "yeah buts" and long quote chains and breaking downs of every other game I played that year and how I view games and at the moment, not really feeling it, so you'll just have to sit with the fact that I didn't like it, I don't think it deserves it at all, and my not getting into all of the precise reasons why doesn't make those reasons any less real.
Then why post on a public forum meant for discussion?
The fact you can't or won't explain why this game is "of course, undeserving", a very strong statement and quite a big insult to the people making the game just leads me to think you're trolling. They're not my favourite kind of post, but there's a difference between a quick congratulations, game good post and one which is inflammatory with no real explanation.
Because I don't think it deserved it, an equally valid opinion? Why does not thinking it deserves something necessitate some big explanation any more than thinking the game does deserve it? Forgive me if I don't want to get into the tired forum dance on this one.
Honestly yes, I think it does. It's a bold and inflammatory statement, it at least needs some form of explanation especially in the way you worded it
Well, I disagree. I'm glad you liked it; I did not. I feel many other games were much better in 2019, and as such, UGG did not deserve the win as the best of all of them.
I've played one session of this game on Switch, I did the first garden and cleared most of the checklist for the second area. Does the game get better? Because so far it's pretty boring. How long is the game?
This is where I'm at. The concept of playing as a goose to harass people is a fun concept and for me is amusing for a few minutes before it kind of just becomes a mediocre puzzle/stealth game as a goose.
Good for the devs and the fans, I dont really get it though personally. Just not for me, I suppose.
Sacrosanct would mean that it's sacred to say things against it, but you're claiming the opposite. The word you're looking for (for your ridiculous argument) is verboten, or heresy.
But anyway. No one is saying you can't "say anything against it," just that you shouldn't suggest that your opinion is universal and thus House House somehow hoodwinked critics into liking their obviously inferior game.
DICE and GDC are game developers' awards, and UGG is a game developers' game. It's lovingly crafted and, above all, fresh. That's why it's winning these particular awards.
If you want an award show that just hands out the award to whatever iterative action shooter with high production values "obviously" deserves it each year, you have *gestures to entire rest of industry.*
Easily one of the most unique and funny games I've ever played.
Here's hoping for a sequel that expands on the concepts of the original.
Here's hoping for a sequel that expands on the concepts of the original.
There are better smaller games that deserved the award (like Baba is You). UGG won because it's a viral meme and is short/digestible (meaning more people played it). Bit sad.
Oh, I suppose you're right; I was meaning that UGG was the thing that is sacrosanct, so the reference of the it pronoun wouldn't change, but verboten does fit better.
At any rate, it's no more ridiculous an argument than one made that because it won this particular award, then we act as if it also swept all the others - which is to say, we act as if other places didn't also think it undeserving - and all of a sudden there can be no people that didn't like it.
Which, sure, I'm told is not the stance taken, but that ostensible view sure got followed up with a whole lot of "explain yourself!" posts as if a negative view of a game needs any more defense than a positive one by nature of being negative, which sure seems like negative views are only allowed if time is wasted to get into an argument about them.
Now, I'm sure that also might open the door to a whole lot of back and forth and hemming and hawing about the nature of language and the weighting/messaging of reading between the line of posts or what have you, but much like the discussion of why I didn't like the game itself, I'm not going to get into a whole quote war about it (I mean, even this is already quite a bit) and you'll have to take my word for it that that's what I got from the post. You'll notice I changed my initial post to be less about the reaction, and more about the game itself.
Fact remains: I think it's bad, I think it's undeserving, and I find the positive reaction it has garnered quite baffling.
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If they changed the camera angle to over the shoulder, gave the goose a beard, and had you take care of a gosling people here would probably give it more respect. Maybe replace the honk button with a swear word button. That should be enough to satisfy the serious hardcore gamers.
Well deserved. I enjoyed every second of my time with the game. My only complaint is I wish it was longer. And I suppose I really would have liked the multi-player component that was teased at one point.
Still, I loved it. Very simple and fun to just watch, too.
Still, I loved it. Very simple and fun to just watch, too.
