The Advent Calendar Guessing Game, 2020 Edition

[DeekyFun]

I certainly hope so (unless the rules have suddenly gotten a lot stricter this year while I wasn’t looking). I was definitely hoping to survive this.

[Vandelay]

I have no doubt my smugness will be removed when Flight Sim is tomorrow.

[and_its_man]

I have no doubt my smugness will be removed when Flight Sim is tomorrow.

Well in the meantime, just enjoy this big Seer-Time moment of yours.

“We should have followed you!”
/queues Queen’s The Prophet Song

[Aerothorn]

And it’s Monster Train! 14 out of 17 got it, so standings are largely unaffected.

Never tried this one, simply because I appear to be the only person who didn’t particularly enjoy Slay the Spire. My theory is that I have played tons of traditional deckbuilders before, and so the concept wasn’t at all novel or addictive to me, even though I acknowledge it has tight math/is well-designed.

[LTK]

Well, there’s at least two of us. StS was quite compulsive but ultimately felt hollow to me, so I was skeptical of whether Monster Train was worth my time. Anyway, back to lurking this thread!

[BillButNotBen]

Ah. Back to joint last again.

I suspected this would be in, but didn’t pick it because it just sounds really zzzz and I could muster no enthusiasm to include it on my list. And also because I didn’t want to have the same list as everyone else.

[and_its_man]

I suspected this would be in, but didn’t pick it because it just sounds really zzzz and I could muster no enthusiasm to include it on my list.

Ha, funny. I came here to write that this is just another game that I plainly decided to snub, for some weird reason I’m now going to reflect upon for a few hours.

Introspection ON. hrmm.

[Aerothorn]

I mean to be fair, I almost cut it from my list - I wasn’t sure how much it would have long-term enthusiasm vs. being the Flavor of the Month.

Anyway, we got a week left. Hades is a given, and I’ll be surprised (but not shocked) if Valhalla and Factorio don’t feature. I thought Horizon: Zero Dawn was a shoe-in due to how much love Nate had for it, but I worry if it can squek in with only his points. Otherwise, I got no clue what’s coming.

[MiniMatt]

Otherwise, I got no clue what’s coming.

Rhymes with fiberskunk Otherwise concur, I had Valhalla & Watchdog both down as the “ubisoft map cleaner” entries and figured only one would make it - think it’ll be Valhalla (having, naturally, gone for the other one). Remain fairly confident about Among Us & Ori.

Think MS Flight Sim has no chance, something about difference between a big significant PC game release (which it is) and one which many RPS staff played much, wrote guides for, or plain(plane) enjoyed. Was a generator of fun news stories for a couple of weeks. The sim/strategy breakthrough this year I thought would be Desperados 3; feeling very unsure of that one now though.

edit: ooh, Death Stranding too, Katherine did a whole supporter post series on that one

[Aerothorn]

Right now, I think there is generally a hole in staff coverage of sims (of all types, including wargames) and certain types of older games that most appeal to people who liked them the first time around - flight sim will be hurt by the former, Desperados by the latter (I could see maybe Nate going for it, but again, his points are stretched). I put Flight Sim on my list because it seemed such a major release, so well received, but I’m just not sure anyone on staff enjoys that sort of game (and no blame there - I love the idea of it, but in practice a 4-hour real-time flight is the sort of thing I’m just never going to have the patience for, in the same way I didn’t have the patience for Euro Truck Simulator 2).

[Vandelay]

I’m not so sure with Factorio. I know people love it (a friend of mine raves about it constantly and can’t stop playing), but it seems very niche and not something that RPS has commented on much, besides some news posts. I see it has had a few guides and it has appeared on Best Managment and Best City Builder list, so seems some of them have been playing it.

[Godwhacker]

The RPS Advent Calendar 2020, December 18th

Death Stranding! Another popular one, I suspect Katherine liking it enough to do a long-running photo diary probably tipped a lot of people off.

[Aerothorn]

I only just recently picked this one up (backlog, etc) but expect to thoroughly enjoy it; as someone who exists in the niche venn diagram of “Hideo Kojima fans” and “walking simulator enthusiast,” I feel like it was made for me.

This is also one of those games where it’s weird that RPS never published a review; I wonder if they had one lined up and something happened?

[Godwhacker]

The RPS Advent Calendar 2020, December 19th

Cyberpunk 2077! Well that’s a bit of an upset

[MiniMatt]

I remain baffled noone else picked this. Whether or not it was a bit jank was the gamble but as best I can tell everyone else avoided it as they felt its inclusion would be somehow against the rules. Like, you’re aware what site you’re on yes?

What games are eligible for the Advent Calendar?

We’re nothing if not consistently inconsistent in our logic.

Words to live by

[Aerothorn]

No, we were all aware its inclusion was in the rules, at least before the end; I am sure there was some intertia in not wanting to go back and edit our picks. It’s more that this year I was more optimistic than cynical in my picks, and I’ve always been bothered by games that win because everyone played them and threw in a few points. The four writeups of Cyberpun 2077 are all qualified with “I love this aspect even though X and Y are crap,” and that’s a totally legit reason to enjoy the games, but what about the games where people went “this entire thing is 100% lovely?”

The answer is some combination of a) those games were played by 1 person, and b) there is something to be said for ambition. But it’s mostly the former.

Anyway, BECAUSE Cyberpunk will be eligible in 2021, and BECAUSE it will be a better game then, I figured they wouldn’t knock another pick out for it. More the fool me. I suppose the question ultimately is what got knocked out in favor of it - and if it’s a super lovely indie game like Signs of the Sojourner or something, I’ll die a little inside (SORRY GRAHAM I LIKE YOU). So hopefully it was Doom Eternal or AC: Valhalla or Watch Dogs Legion or something.

To be clear, I expect if I played Cyberpunk today I’d mostly enjoy it, just like the staff did, while being annoyed at various features (bad RPG systems and whatnot).

[Aerothorn]

Also, it occurs to me I need to start doing my definitive Dog Petting research, since it is almost certain that third place (if not 1st/2nd) will come down to the tiebreaker.

[LTK]

Well, at least they didn’t give it Bestest Best.

[Vandelay]

So hopefully it was Doom Eternal or AC: Valhalla or Watch Dogs Legion

Hopefully it is the last one. I picked the other two…

But, yes, I do agree that it is a shame to see RPS including it. I would say they have been pretty open that the game isn’t just buggy, but flawed in a few fundamental ways, so it does feel like it is there simply because they all played it.

Then again, I expect that is also me projecting my own feelings of being fed up with the hype and slight smugness that it turned out pretty much as I expected.

[Aerothorn]

Then again, I expect that is also me projecting my own feelings of being fed up with the hype and slight smugness that it turned out pretty much as I expected.

Same, and of course I haven’t played it, so I am in no position to criticize. It’s totally possible that its narrative and architectural charms really are that great. And I think RPS was right to evaluate the game on its own merits and not penalize it for bad marketing, labor conditions, etc (even though I think mentioning those in sidebars is a good move).

Speaking of Cyberpunk 2077: does anyone know if it has pettable dogs? Haven’t been able to find out either way, and don’t want to trust preview coverage.

Also need to figure this out for Roki, Tales from Off-Peak City, and Yakuza: Like a Dragon.