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Best year of the Generation

What was the best year of the generation?

  • 2014

    Votes: 6 3.1%
  • 2015

    Votes: 39 19.9%
  • 2016

    Votes: 8 4.1%
  • 2017

    Votes: 71 36.2%
  • 2018

    Votes: 29 14.8%
  • 2019

    Votes: 4 2.0%
  • 2020

    Votes: 39 19.9%

  • Total voters
    196

deriks

4-Time GIF/Meme God
2017 of course. We have games that truly got what the generation was about it

Started the year with Resident Evil, we got Zelda, Cuphead finally released, Mario Odyssey, NieR Automata, a good Sonic game...

Second place is 2019. A year with Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, Sekiro, Metro, and Mortal Kombat (that still holds up) is really awesome
 
2015 and 2017 for me, 15 had Bloodborne that might tip it over. But Also 2018 was pretty solid and last year was better than this honestly.
 

martino

Member
1. 2017 - BOTW, Mario, Horizon Zero Dawn, Nier Automata, Persona 5 (outside Japan), Destiny 2, Cuphead, Hellblade
2. 2020 - Animal Crossing, Persona 5 Royal (outside Japan), Cyberpunk, Flight Simulator, Doom Eternal
3. 2015 - Bloodborne and Witcher 3
this.
from the list you can dying light and cties skyline for 2015
 

Ellery

Member
What a fantastic generation this was. I voted 2020 for obvious reasons, but other years are hyper strong as well.
Imagine if the output of third party, xbox and Nintendo was the same in terms of quality as Playstation. It would've been the strongest generation of all time.
 

SSfox

Member
Tie between 2015 and 2018

2015: MGSV, MKX, Bloodborne, TW3. Also this was where the generation really started imo.

2018: Daddy Kratos alone would justifie this year winning, there's also RDR2 and DQ11.
 
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Naibel

Member
2017 by far. I mean, Yakuza 0, Nioh, RE VII, Nier Automata, Persona 5, Sonic Mania, Mario Odyssey, Cuphead, Xenoblade 2 and Zelda motherfuckin' BOTW ! Those games were so incredible they turned jaded Me into a gaming enthusiast again ! It was the year Japan finally made a true and resounding comeback into the gaming scene after a terrible 7th gen and a couple of years gaining momentum. It was also the year Nintendo kicked everyone's ass with the Switch and its outstanding first-year lineup ! It was like the Wii U never happened.

2018 and 2019 were very solid as well, but not as insanely good, at least to my japan-centric-and-I-don't-give-a-flying-fuck-about-AAA perspective.
 

Perrott

Gold Member
2015 obviously:
  • Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
  • Batman: Arkham Knight
  • Bloodborne
  • Fallout 4
  • Destiny: The Taken King
  • Star Wars: Battlefront
  • Rainbow Six: Siege
  • Need For Speed
  • The Order 1886
  • Until Dawn
  • Dying Light
  • Magicka 2
  • Helldivers
  • Undertale
  • Grim Fandango Remastered
  • Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number
  • Nuclear Throne
  • Not a Hero
  • & Xenoblade Chronicles X
akbrGuY.gif
 
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Mozzarella

Member
How are people voting for 2020?
When 2020 is really a year full of disappointing games and full of remakes and enhanced editions and sequels similar of their games.
Only innovative games that come to mind are Half Life Alyx and maybe Doom Eternal. You can argue for Cyberpunk as well because the genre is fresh.
Anything else is Remakes or Royal edition or sequel to a previous game that borrows similar mechanics. I can say no game except Half Life Alyx will be remembered as game changer from all 2020. Quality wise the year was also average.
I forgot Hades, Hades was great. I mean 2020 is better than 2018 and 2016 but it doesnt touch 2015-2017-2019

Best year of the decade imo goes to 2011.
Best year of this gen is 2017 because of a lot of quantity and quality.
But my persona favorite year is 2015 because two games Bloodborne and Witcher 3 were too good that if they release in any year (except 2017 maybe) they would have been GOTY.

Objectively though 2017 is better than 2015, but i just gotta give my vote to 2015 to make the gap between it and 2020 bigger.
Now 2019 is a different beast in itself, 2019 is the best year of the gen for Indie games. Outer Wilds was amazing. And the whole year was full of quality titles.

According to NeoGaf game of gen contest 2015 should be leading this poll.

I think 2021 is going to be a bad year for gaming, quality wise. Nothing coming in 2021 that im looking forward to. 2014 is the first year of the previous gen and it was bad. I think its expected.
 

GonSama

Member
2017,2018 and 2020 were amazing.
2015 gave us Bloodborne and TW3.
2016 and 2019 were fine.
2014 was the worst year of this gen.
 

MrS

Banned
2019 for me. Sekiro, Death Stranding and RE2 are all 10/10 games imho. Incredible year with a lot of excellent smaller titles to boot (i.e. Metro Exodus, DMC5, Cat Quest 2, Slay the Spire, Apex Legends, Remnant, Blasphemous, MW).
 
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2017.

2014 had some good games, and kicked off the generation but otherwise, is kinda forgettable.
2015 had The Witcher 3 and Bloodborne, which are great games, but other than that, that's all.
2016 had the odd great game, but other than that, nothing is to note about the year.
2017 is the best of the years. Games like Super Mario Odyssey and The Breath Of The Wild make it one of Nintendo's strongest years, other games like Resident Evil 7 and The Evil Within 2 make this one to remember.
2018 had Spider Man as it's best game, God Of War is also to note, along with other games, but it's not as good as 2017.
2019 is kinda boring. Death Stranding and Resident Evil 2 are the highlights of the year where the hype for the next generation starts.
2020, the end of the generation, has some great games, like Half-Life: Alyx, The Last of Us II, Ori And The Will Of The Wisps and Cyberpunk 2077, but 2017 just edges it out.

If I had to rank them, then it would be 2017 > 2020 > 2015 > 2018 > 2014 > 2019 > 2016.
 

yurinka

Member
I think all years had at least 4-5 god tier games, many of which don't even appear in the list.

But I think 2020 has been the year with more of them, pretty tied with 2017 and 2018.

In any case, this generation is the one with the highest number of top tier games ever, and that is the main reason of why PS4 and Switch are breaking historical sales records.
 
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Arachnid

Member
2015 had:

Metal Gear Solid V
Witcher 3
Bloodborne
Rainbow Six Siege
Dying Light
Pillars of Eternity
Batman: Arkham Knight
Destiny: Taken King
Fallout 4
Halo 5
Rise of the Tomb Raider
Super Mario Maker
Rocket League
Until Dawn
+more

Those first 3 alone are all in my top 5 games of the gen. 2015 was GOAT, and it's not even close.
 

ShirAhava

Plays with kids toys, in the adult gaming world
This was a pretty weak generation....IMO BUT

2015 was AMAZING! I'm still playing Battlefront 2015 what a fun game

2017 was also good but not as good as 2015

2016 was ok street fighter v/titanfall 2 stood out

2014/2018/2019/2020 were pretty much nothingburgers for me...
 

Aion002

Member
Nioh 2 and Ghost of Tsushima are two of my favorite games of this gen, plus FFVII Remake, TLU2 and RE3R were quite good. So I will go with 2020.

Every year in this gen there was an amazing game that I enjoyed sooo much, from Bloodborne to Monster Hunter World and Days Gone to Sekiro. This was a good gen for me.
 
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Handel

Member
2017 by a country mile, for anyone who loves games as a whole and not just certain AAA titles. It's not just the best year this gen, but in major contention for best year in gaming ever, with top quality titles across a multitude of genres, multiple of which are contenders for best ever in their genre like Zelda BOTW, Mario Odyssey and Divinity Original Sin 2 for action-adventure, platformers, and CRPGs respectively. The creativity on display thay year was also at a peak with titles like Cuphead and Arms. The year also saw the rise of two hugely popular games in a relatively new genre of Battle Royale in Fortnite and PUBG.
 

kunonabi

Member
2012:
New Super Mario Bros. U
Nintendo Land
ZombiU

2013:
Game & Wario
Pikmin 3
Sonic Lost World
Super Mario 3D World
Wii Fit U
Wii Party U
The Wonderful 101

2014:
Bayonetta 2
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Hyrule Warriors
Mario Kart 8
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
Zero: Nuregarasu no Miko

2015:
Devil's Third
Kirby and the Rainbow Curse
Mario Party 10
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Splatoon
Super Mario Maker
Xenoblade X
Yoshi's Wooly World
Genei Ibun Roku #FE

2016:
The King of Fighters XIV
Star Fox Zero
World of Final Fantasy

2017:
Persona 5
Yakuza 0
Nioh
Friday the 13th: the Game

2018:
Dragonball FighterZ
Monster Hunter World
The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
Fighting EX Layer

2019:
Death Stranding
Judgment
Samurai Shodown
Sekiro
Shenmue III

2020:
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
Ghost of Tsushima
Predator: Hunting Grounds

This is how the big highlights of each year shake out for me. Going by this it's pretty much between 2013 and 2015. I'd probably have to give the edge to 2015 since it has 2 of my top 3 games of the generation in Xenoblade X and MGSV.
 

EverydayBeast

thinks Halo Infinite is a new graphical benchmark
That is the best generation one year from this generation is better than PS3's generation's combined, very unique games.
 

KingXtreme81

Gold Member
Holy incomplete list, OP. Should have done better work on this thread.

Anyway, for me 2018 takes it pretty easily. RDR2 (my game of the generation), God of War, Spider-Man, Odyssey and others, wow, it was incredible.
 
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KungFucius

King Snowflake
2020 - Three Myths Came To Reality

Final Fantasy VII Remake
Half Life Alyx
Demon's Souls Remake

Plus new console launches the PS5 and XSX. Can't beat that.
So the best year of last generation is 2020 because next-generation? Ok.

I'm going with 2017. Zelda and Mario were great. I'm having fun with games on my new 2020 hardware too but they are cross generation.
 

Heimdall_Xtreme

Jim Ryan Fanclub's #1 Member
2015 obviously:
  • Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
  • Batman: Arkham Knight
  • Bloodborne
  • Fallout 4
  • Destiny: The Taken King
  • Star Wars: Battlefront
  • Rainbow Six: Siege
  • Need For Speed
  • The Order 1886
  • Until Dawn
  • Dying Light
  • Magicka 2
  • Helldivers
  • Undertale
  • Grim Fandango Remastered
  • Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number
  • Nuclear Throne
  • Not a Hero
  • & Xenoblade Chronicles X

:messenger_fearful:
Que la boca se te haga chicharrón

in english..... What??
 
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2014

Dark Souls II
Alien: Isolation
South Park: The Stick of Truth
Destiny
Watch_Dogs
Dragon Age: Inquisition
inFAMOUS Second Son
Far Cry 4
Wolfenstein: The New Order
Wasteland 2
Strider
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
The Evil Within
This War of Mine
Dungeon of the Endless
Titanfall
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
Sniper Elite III
Diablo III: Reaper of Souls
D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die
Sunset Overdrive
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Mercenary Kings
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
Murdered: Soul Suspect
Thief

2015

Bloodborne
Fallout 4
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Axiom Verge
Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair
Destiny: The Taken King
Ori and the Blind Forest
Pillars of Eternity
Dying Light
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
Until Dawn
Broforce
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood
Mad Max
Just Cause 3
Heroes of the Storm
Call of Duty: Black Ops III
The Order 1886
Battlefield: Hardline
Life is Strange
Helldivers
Warhammer: The Endtimes - Vermintide
Star Wars Battlefront
Evolve
Rocket League

2016

Dark Souls III
DOOM
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
XCOM 2
Dishonored 2
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Battlefield 1
Titanfall 2
Destiny: Rise of Iron
Watch_Dogs 2
Killing Floor 2
Tyranny
Quantum Break
Tom Clancy's The Division
Space Hulk: Deathwing
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
The Witness
Hitman
Battleborn
Mafia III
Gears of War 4
Overwatch

2017

Prey
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
Horizon Zero Dawn
Hollow Knight
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands
Destiny 2
Earth Defense Force 5
South Park: The Fractured but Whole
Assassin's Creed Origins
NieR: Automata
Mass Effect: Andromeda
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
Star Wars Battlefront 2
The Evil Within 2
The Mummy Demastered
Nioh
The Surge
Immortal Redneck
STRAFE
The Sexy Brutale
Call of Duty: World War II
Crawl

2018

Red Dead Redemption 2
God of War
Far Cry 5
Destiny 2: Forsaken
DUSK
Monster Hunter: World
Fallout 76
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon
Warhammer: Vermintide 2
Detroit: Become Human
Vampyr
Celeste
Owlboy
Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII
State of Decay 2

2019

Days Gone
Resident Evil 2
Metro: Exodus
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
Tom Clancy's The Division II
Destiny 2: Shadowkeep
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint
The Outer Worlds
Blasphemous
Far Cry: New Dawn
Rage 2
Remnant: From the Ashes
AMID EVIL
Void Bastards
Anthem
Wolfenstein: Youngblood
Gears 5

2020

Cyberpunk 2077
Doom Eternal

Top 10 Games

1. Bloodborne
2. Cyberpunk 2077
3. Dark Souls II
4. Dark Souls III
5. Prey
6. Red Dead Redemption 2
7. Days Gone
8. God of War
9. Fallout 4
10. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

Man... if I had to pick a favorite year maybe 2015?
 

Vick

Gold Member
This is impossible..

I loved 2014 because of P.T., Alien Isolation, Infamous: Second Son, First Light, The Evil Within, Shadow of Mordor, even Ryse on PC.

Loved 2015 because of Bloodborne, Batman: Arkham Knight, The Witcher 3, Mad Max, Star War: Battlefront, even The Order: 1886.

Liked 2016 for some titles in the OP, but definitely more for the not listed Ratchet and Clank than the listed Mankind Divided, for instance.

Liked 2017 because of Horizon: Zero Dawn and Resident Evil 7.

Loved 2018 because of God of War and RDR2 and Spider-Man.

Loved 2019 even just for Resident Evil 2. And Days Gone, which is not listed and i only played this year but still in Top 10 ever.

Loved this year for Ghost of Tsushima.. and most of TLoUII, and still have lot to play.

In short, i don't fucking know.
 

GonSama

Member
.Pennywise .Pennywise , some games you forgot:

2014:
- DriveClub
- Infamous: Second Son
- Watch Dogs


2015:
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
- Tearaway Unfolded
- The Order: 1886
- Until Dawn


2016:
- Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth
- Mirror's Edge Catalyst
- Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4
- Ratchet & Clank


2017:
- Gravity Rush 2
- Guilty Gear XRD Rev 2
- Middle-earth: Shadow of War
- Tales of Berseria
- Tekken 7
- Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
- Yakuza 0
- WipEout: Omega Collection
- Xenoblade Chronicles 2


2018:
- Dragon Quest XI
- Mega Man 11
- Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
- Red Dead Redemption 2
- Shadow of the Colossus Remake
- Sonic Mania
- Spyro: The Reignited Trilogy
- Valkyria Chronicles 4
- Yakuza 6


2019:
- Astral Chain
- Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
- Concrete Genie
- Fire Emblem: Three Houses
- Judgment
- Kingdom Hearts III


2020:
- Astro's Playroom (amazing and free)
- Immortals Fenyx Rising
- Sackboy A Big Adventure
- Trials of Mana
 
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Jeeves

Member
Between Yakuza 0, Nier Automata, Persona 5, Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey, 2017 is untouchable.
 

Shrennin

Didn't get the memo regarding the 14th Amendment
This is really hard. I almost want to go with 2014 because TitanFall was really, really special to me. And it was a multiplayer game I really enjoyed playing with friends.

So I'll go with 2014 because of the community aspect it meant for me, but on a personal level in terms of more single player centric games.. I gotta go with 2019. That has a healthy mix of single player centric games plus some really, really good multiplayer games that I really enjoyed.
 
Maybe it's the continous lockdowns and quarantines I had to endure, but I had a great gaming year this 2020. Got back into PC gaming and I was treated to Serious Sam 4, Valorant, C&C Remastered, Age Of Empires 2 remaster and more. The new consoles came out, snagged both Xboxes and I'm very happy with both hardwares. Played what may be my favourite Assassin's Creed so far, Valhalla. Cyberpunk 2077 is finally out and it's amazing, despite everything. Doom Eternal is even better than Doom 2016. Had tons of positive surprises such as Maneater. This was a great year, recency bias and all but it might end up being the most intense year of the gaming generation for me.
 
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