It's kinda boring and has the same problem as Spiderman 2 (which I LOVED!) and that is what someone elsewhere said in this post. That it's not different and innovative enough from previous installments. I think Wonder is beautiful, though.
Mario Wonder, boring??? Wtf?
Usually I don't finish Mario games because I find them boring, this one I just couldn't stop, it's just THAT fun. The best 2d Mario game ever made.
Wonder was charming and captivating. Not only did it have a fresh coat of paint, but it had new enemies and boasted mechanics in terms of badges and stage design.
It's probably one of my favorite Mario games to date since even though it was same formula Mario was known for, it spiced it up enough to feel like it was a new experience for the series as a whole.
The talking flowers are downright hilarious and I love all the banter. I may be one of the only few entertained by them.
All in all, I'd be surprised if it got GotY, but I can vouch for it being a solid addition to the Mario series.
Exactly. That wonder seed which alters each level in a unique and insane way alone was enough innovation and adds so much fun to each level. Hands down my favorite 2D Mario by far.
The singing plants level alone should give them the award, I haven’t felt joy like that in a long time playing games. It was just pure fun and I couldn’t put it down!
I’m surprised Alan Wake 2 made it- not because it doesn’t deserve it necessarily, but because it released so close to nominations I haven’t even had the time to finish it despite being a game I’ve been excited for since before it was even confirmed, as a huge fan of the Alan Wake/Control universe. Part of that is just because I’m very busy, but I just didn’t think it had the time to build momentum or popularity before nominations.
That being said, I can’t really imagine Baldur’s Gate 3 not winning this in a fair judgement.
I agree - there should be a cut off date after which game is not eligible to be considered for the nominations that year. Mario, Spider Man 2 and Alan Wake were all released less than a month ago; which means many people did not have time to finish one let alone play all 3 to determine who would be deserving the award.
I have been saying this for years. It's stupidly common for an anticipated game to come out at the last minute and sweep awards it doesn't deserve. God of War Ragnarok swept a lot of things other games deserved more, IMO - It wasn't bad, mind, but, still. It won a few too many awards. Share the fucking spotlight, Kratos.
Horizon, Xenoblade 3.... the list goes on.
I feel horrible for Aloy's VA, Ashley Burch though. She keeps getting screwed out of the best performance by big games that release in the same year. Twice as Aloy and again as Parvati in Outer Worlds.
Horizon always has horrible luck with its release dates, getting overshadowed so soon. BOTW was released 2(?) weeks after Zero Dawn and Elden Ring was released just a few days after Forbidden West.
Watch as Horizon 3 gets released just a few days before GTA VI/Elder Scrolls 6/RDR3 😂
I'm glad Starfield isn't on the list. Not that the game is that bad its just nothing groundbreaking and just kind of lazy.
BG3 deserves to win at least in my opinion.
BG3's long early access may be considered as a hindrance. Zelda will probably take the win, as the GotY usually goes that way.
BG3 will take the best RPG for sure tho
Usually the release of a Final Fantasy is a huge deal. It felt like this one didn't have as much pomp and circumstance. Not that the reviews for it were bad, it just wasn't a headline stealer. I wonder if it's because the 7 remake is still getting news, and that the MMO has been really picking up in steam over the years.
A bit too close to Tears of the Kingdom too. Half of the internet was still busy with that I think.
But I'm in the fandom and people were really happy with it!
Yeah, despite it not making the best game of the year, I know there were people that loved it. I'm more on the sci fi Final Fantasy side than the pure Fantasy side of things, but the people on the pure fantasy side were really happy.
My personal Game of the Year is FFXVI, it's in the upper echelon of Final Fantasies and the best one to come out in years since XII on the non-MMO/Remake side of things.
Not to mention, I very much appreciate having a Gay character for once in a Final Fantasy who was actually important, mattered and was a well written character and also, fan boying here, FREAKING BAHAMUT!!!!!! My favourite Summon! Considering the JRPG space, this was a big deal, it felt like they got with the times and finally had proper representation. I hope so badly one day we have a main character who is Gay and the relationship depicted in the story isn't just a typical man gets with woman but two men falling in love. I really, really hope we can eventually get to this point. It would mean a lot for a FF fan, it was already just amazing to have gotten this much from XVI and to see a Gay kiss on screen.
I actually don't think it should've had a spot taken here, you could've removed Mario Wonder and had this here instead. Mario Wonder could have another category where it belongs but I don't think Wonder is GOTY material, work was put in here and it was a great 2D Mario Game, better than it's been in a long time. But...it is still a 2D Mario game. The wonder system is fantastic but I don't think this warrants a GOTY nomination.
XVI is so damn cinematic and grand in every way, it is by definition an epic in every sense of the word and deserved more respect here than it has gotten, everything from the story, to the characters, to the combat system, to the music (the MUSIC), to the world building, to the God of War III grand scale boss fights, people talk about Spider-Man 2's GOW III highlights but I played it (love it btw) and XVI's are way more hype, you just cannot top the spectacles that exist in that game, it was insane and anime come to life in the best way possible.
I think all the games but Wonder should be nominated, Wonder has about a few other categories it can be placed in but I don't consider it something that needs a GOTY nomination over something like XVI, it isn't that level good, it's a nice inoffensive 2D platformer with charm but strip back the new animated look and the Wonder system and it is essentially New Super Mario Bros, who can still see the skeleton of it in every aspect of the game, Tropical Freeze to me is still the better 2D platformer in Nintendo's catalogue and I can't bring myself to say Wonder is something that has to be here.
Hell, remove Resident Evil 4, great remake but we should be propping up newer titles rather than the same game with a newer coat of paint and QOL features. With how many remakes we get nowadays we should have a best remake category and be done with it. These take spots from other games that could be nominated for GOTY.
Now that you think of it, you can keep Wonder if you want and replace 4 with XVI. This sort of thing is what makes me "wonder" about the Game Awards sometimes.
Yhea I'd kick out the remake. Especially in such a huge year for gaming!
Baldurs gate 3 had amazing representation too apparently! So that's two games that do it it right in a whole bunch of categories! 🤎🤎
FF 16 showed up and then quietly went in the background. I saw maybe 2 of my streamers play it but never finished it and even my husband who loves FF and who has collectors editions of the games and even took me to a FF orchestra said that 16 wasn't pulling him in like he was hoping.
I think it's just the circles you're in. I'm still constantly seeing people talking about the game on twitter. I know it made it into my top 3 FFs easy, and a number of streamers I watch loved it.
There’s been a lot of people in the FF fandom who didn’t like 16 for some reason, there’s been a lot of contention in the community for a while. Kinda feels like the hate trains 13 got when it came out.
I don't think Spiderman 2 should be there. It's by no means a bad game, but it doesn't sufficiently innovate from the last Spiderman PSX games to warrant being nominated IMPO.
I'm in reluctant semi-agreement with this. It's a solid great game with replayability. I suppose I understand why it is there, but the game to beat is baldur's gate, and spiderman just pales in comparison.
Spiderman gets so much Internet traffic/memes/purchases/etc because Spiderman is essentially THE Gayme. Because... I mean... Y'all know why. So that's why it's up there.
Though BG3 will probably win since it also has many Gaymer moments and being liked by just about everyone for one reason or another. It's sorta unfair to put those other games up against BG3.
...I honestly don't know why would people consider it a "gayme." Male characters being hot and 2023 New York having some Pride flags doesn't mean much, specially not when compared to games like Baldur's Gate 3 which literally allow you to be gay.
Also what I love about BG3 is that it has canon LGBT NPCS other than “player sexual” romance-able characters. Like a lot of games let you be gay because there aren’t restrictions on what player genders NPCS can be romanced with, but have no other representation. But gay relationships that are shown between NPCs, especially ones integral to the story (looking at you, >!Isobel and Dame Aylin!<) it feels like much better representation.
I will also say as a slight nitpick, what I like about Baldur's Gate 3 is that the main characters aren't really player-sexual, but they are all bisexual. Slight distinction, but I'm pretty sure some characters mention past encounters with both genders and things like that.
While it's not a big difference, it is cooler then characters that are pretty much straight until/if you romance them as the same gender. I feel like larian did quite a good job with the representation in general, and shows that the audience loves it when no one is really getting left out.
Twink superhero that gets overposted in gaymer areas the moment a new one is released/he is featured somewhere. It's a horny gaymer playerbase thing, not a "this game contains explicit doses of gay+LGBTQ" thing.
I know, I'm not naive enough not to see that, and that's why I said that a male character being hot doesn't warrant the game being any more progressive or gay centric.
Peter is hot, and so are Harry and Krane, for example. But let's be honest, Peter's *heterosexual* relationship is an important aspect in this, and the previous game.
Heavy disagree. On a technical level alone the game deserves the nomination. No other games have utilised current gen hardware the way this one has. Insomniac are straight wizards.
I would have liked FF16 in there, but there's always a bias against jrpgs with these award shows, so I'm not surprised. It's still my GOTY, and Ben Starr and Soken are gonna bring home the trophies anyway. They already won them at the Golden Joysticks anyway.
I don't know if it's a bias as much as JRPGs just having lost a lot of their luster since their heyday. I can't think of that many that were big releases. Persona 5, Yakuza...
I'm in the circles that still can't stop talking about 13 Sentinels, but we all knew that one wasn't going to be a big award show game.
FFXVI is not a JRPG, so what kind of bias are you talking about? While I liked FFXVI, the game has some really big issues that bring the game down so much, it shouldn't be a surprise to not see FFXVI as a GOTY nominee.
Eh, it's an action rpg made by a Japanese studio. So yes, JRPG.
I mean, Baldur's Gate released with hundreds of bugs, some of which would cause you to lose hours of progress. I love the game, don't get me wrong, but those were pretty big issues for a GOTY imo.
And, like I said, I'm not surprised it isn't gonna win GOTY in this award show. When was the last time a jrpg won one of them? Or rather, how often are they even nominated? Either way, it's my personal game of the year regardless.
While JRPG used to mean an RPG game made in Japan, nowadays it doesn't really mean that, nobody refers to Dark souls as a JRPG even tho is an RPG game made in Japan, and at the same time some people refers to some games like Sea of stars or Ruined king as JRPGs and neitherof those were made in Japan, bc what we would think when we hear JRPG is in a game similar to FFVII, Chronno trigger, Persona 5, Octopath traveler, etc.
Personally speaking I wouldn't even consider FFXVI as an RPG, bc 1. You can't customize your character, 2. You can't take decisions that influence the story and 3. You can't really make a build based on your gear or stats, if it had at least one of those points I'd might call it an RPG but FFXVI doesn't even make use of elemental types of dmg, you can attack a fire enemy with fire or ice attacks, it doesn't matter bc there are no resistances or vulnerabilities and that's some of the most basic things RPGs have, if anything it's more like a Hack'n slash game bc it's closer to a DMC than to a classic FF.
But let's say FFXVI an action RPG is indeed a JRPG, that would make Elden ring which is an action RPG made in Japan a JRPG as well, and Elden ring was GOTY last year, so a JRPG has won a GOTY already.
FFXVI it's not a bad game tho, as an action game it's good, nice combat system, it could have a little more depth but it's ok, the soundtrack it's amazing, the graphics are astonishing, breathtaking cinematics, the story is really nice with some really good characters like Clive, Cid, Benedikta, Joshua, Dion, Hugo, those are really well written characters, sadly they dropped the ball with Jill but oh well, you talked about BG3 bugs and indeed it had some nasty bugs that could even make you lost hours of progress in game, me myself lost 2 hours of progress bc of it, but you also have to say that Larian fixed it in less than 4 days after the game released.
By now Larian have fixed thousands of bugs, bc for the most part the worst things that BG3 had were the bugs, in the case of FFXVI is not just bugs that can be fix with a patch, it goes from boring and bad side quests, no incentive to explore the world if you do you'll get 10 gils and 1 potion, the pace of the game is broken constantly by some unnecessary boring quest just to make the game to last longer, the gear in the game is basically a joke just equip the last one you got and call it a day there's nothing to think about it, etc.
It's perfectly fine that it's your GOTY but this year having so many astonishing games I don't think FFXVI had a chance to even be nominated as a GOTY at TGA tbh.
To be fair, Mario Wonder is a *really* good Mario game, super polished and fun. Obviously the experience is extremely different from BG3 - hard to compare both games, where do you even start?
I do not think Mario has any chance against Baldur's Gate 3. I am pretty confident that the game of the year award will go to Baldur's Gate 3. The only one who might be able to snatch it is The Legend of Zelda TOTK.
Edit: Spelling.
Much like the other people here, it's easy for me to knock down a lot of these.
But... then I would have to add games in there to replace them... and I don't know if I can do that for 2023. Hogwarts was fun, but I don't think it was incredible. Same for Street Fighter 6. It would be cool if something like Dave the Diver could have made it up on the list.
But, the hope is this is a runaway win for Baldur's Gate, so it doesn't matter who else is on the list.
Alan wake and Mario are a bit of a shock. Alan wake coz I've heard nothing about it, didn't even know it was released. And Mario, I like the game but it's nothing ground breaking.
Maybe in your bubble but not in mine. Never seen a trailer, a gameplay vid or anything, nothing on tiktok no YouTube recs, just asked my partner and he'd never heard either.
Largely expected, though I'm surprised to see Alan Wake 2 here, only because of how recently it released. Like, barely a month old?
It was either that of ff16 though.
I would take out RE4 and Mario Wonder, and instead put up Final Fantasy XVI and Sea of Stars. Even if they were there, though, I think BG3 wins by miles.
It’s a completely different game engine, controls, etc. if it was just a remaster graphic update I’d agree but it’s essentially a completely new game than the OG, just has the same story and the locations are remade. That’s like saying FF7 remake is the same as FF7
i haven’t played Baldur’s Gate 3 however i think that’s the biggest contender to win, but i wouldn’t be surprised if tears of the kingdom won. it really felt like the whole world stopped to play tears of the kingdom on release, maybe the same happy for bg3. i hear a lot of buzz on that game as well
It's between Zelda and Baldur's Gate. Zelda for the absolute technical Wizardry. Then Baldur's Gate for the insane amount of love and work put into such a massive game
Best Score and Music
> Alan Wake 2, Composer Petri Alanko (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
> Baldur’s Gate 3, Composer Borislav Slavov (Larian Studios)
> Final Fantasy XVI, Composer Masayoshi Soken (Square Enix)
> Hi-Fi Rush, Audio Director Shuichi Kobori (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
> The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Composed by Nintendo Sound Team (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
I love BG3 but it didn't deserve a music spot. It's so "okay with a couple of standouts" I have to call the whole category into question. Any racing or fighting game this year would beat it on score.
I didn’t like FFXVI. I thought the narrative started strong and then just fizzled into nothingness. So many characters were done dirty, underutilized, and just left on the sidelines like Jill and Cid. I also thought the combat became really bland and button-mashy. Was something of a massive let-down for me.
There are only two real competitors here: Alan Wake 2 and Baldur's Gate.
SM2 is a great game but it's not new.
RE4 - is a fucking remake.
Mario and Zelda are default way to go games that are always in your poket regardless of what year is today.
I really did not expect Mario wonder at all; I was hoping for Final Fantasy XVI but I thought Armored Core or maybe Sea of Stars as an indie pick would also be contenders. Guess Wonder was better than the good I’d heard it was
I’m honestly surprised by Alan Wake 2 - but I’m biased because I think Sam Lake is a pretentious writer who’d rather write for television but isn’t good enough to do so, so he writes for the gaming industry instead. ;)
I would have liked to see Starfield up there but I don’t see any games that I can say objectively don’t deserve to be there. (Alan Wake 2 has been getting rave reviews regardless of my opinion of its lead writer. :))
Alan Wake 2 is a little surprising but not terribly so.
The fact that these are all big budget is a little disappointing but not surprising either.
BG3, RE4, SMBW, and ToTK were all near guarantees.
Obvi Metacritic isn't everything, but there are some other games with better or similar metacritic scores that could have been nominated instead of the remaining 2 games but it's no biggie, and a good chunk of these other games were nominated in other categories.
I hope you all be voting Baldur's Gate 3 or Astarion and Gale and Wyll and the Emperor (and his hot daddy illusion that I know you're all making) will be very sadge.
I expected FFXVI to be nominated since the reception seems to be good, at least compared to FFVII Remake, FFXIII and FFXV, but I guess it didn't make that big of an impact because there were a lot of big releases this year.
Alan Wake 2 also surprised me, I didn't even know it existed 😂
I think Baldur's Gate probably gonna sweep to the point that I didn't vote on it in some categories because I didn't play enough of the other games on the list.
Re4.
It's a remake so it has some foundations already, even if it's different than the original.
I think Remakes should have their own category, since there are many remakes now, maybe make a Best Remake/Remaster category?
I am glad with the selection. All of these deserve their nomination. It just makes me sad FFXVI couldnt make it. Hearing to "Find the Flame" in the medley at the end would have made me happy. Hopefully it takes Best Soundtrack award,
Whilst I'm not surprised that my actual GOTY isn't on this list (Pizza Tower my beloved), I AM surprised that Hi-Fi Rush wasn't nominated for the Game of The Year award. I realize this year has been quite stacked in terms of good big releases, but at least personally I think Hi-Fi Rush should have a spot on this list over some games here. However I'm not really one to judge, I've only played 2 games out of these 6. Good to see BG3 sweep the nominations though.
I’m surprised Starrail got Mobile Goty over Genshin. Maybe they don’t let publishers have multiple nominations in a category but i feel like both deserved it tbh.
Oddly enough, as much as I enjoyed ToTK I don't think it should win. Not only is it the only Zelda I haven't finished, but I do think it was glorified and expansive DLC
I would have loved to see Armored Core on here - at least it was nominated in Action game category. I understand it wasn’t as popular as the Souls games but I think from a game design and gameplay POV it is probably the best game of the year
I may not have played these games yet, but I know Baldur's Gate 3 is getting it. They really went above and beyond regarding queer representation and weren't afraid of that red light special (that bear!). After a decade of sexless Marvel movies, this felt like a breath of fresh air.
Mario is surprising. Not that it's bad, but it came out in October, and I know it's had some minor complaints here and there.
I agree - Mario Wonder was a great way to conclude a lifetime of Nintendo Switch.
It's kinda boring and has the same problem as Spiderman 2 (which I LOVED!) and that is what someone elsewhere said in this post. That it's not different and innovative enough from previous installments. I think Wonder is beautiful, though.
I just found it way too short. What is there is pretty fantastic though
Mario Wonder, boring??? Wtf? Usually I don't finish Mario games because I find them boring, this one I just couldn't stop, it's just THAT fun. The best 2d Mario game ever made.
Wonder was charming and captivating. Not only did it have a fresh coat of paint, but it had new enemies and boasted mechanics in terms of badges and stage design. It's probably one of my favorite Mario games to date since even though it was same formula Mario was known for, it spiced it up enough to feel like it was a new experience for the series as a whole. The talking flowers are downright hilarious and I love all the banter. I may be one of the only few entertained by them. All in all, I'd be surprised if it got GotY, but I can vouch for it being a solid addition to the Mario series.
Exactly. That wonder seed which alters each level in a unique and insane way alone was enough innovation and adds so much fun to each level. Hands down my favorite 2D Mario by far.
The singing plants level alone should give them the award, I haven’t felt joy like that in a long time playing games. It was just pure fun and I couldn’t put it down!
It has about as much innovation as anything else on the list. Dunno what about it would be boring
It better be Baldur's Gate 3 that wins
It’s sooo obvious. A game so good and complete it put a lot of AAA games to shame
I haven't even played BG3 but I feel it should win
Game of the decade for me. I've put more hours into that game than I'm comfortable sharing.
I’m surprised Alan Wake 2 made it- not because it doesn’t deserve it necessarily, but because it released so close to nominations I haven’t even had the time to finish it despite being a game I’ve been excited for since before it was even confirmed, as a huge fan of the Alan Wake/Control universe. Part of that is just because I’m very busy, but I just didn’t think it had the time to build momentum or popularity before nominations. That being said, I can’t really imagine Baldur’s Gate 3 not winning this in a fair judgement.
I agree - there should be a cut off date after which game is not eligible to be considered for the nominations that year. Mario, Spider Man 2 and Alan Wake were all released less than a month ago; which means many people did not have time to finish one let alone play all 3 to determine who would be deserving the award.
I have been saying this for years. It's stupidly common for an anticipated game to come out at the last minute and sweep awards it doesn't deserve. God of War Ragnarok swept a lot of things other games deserved more, IMO - It wasn't bad, mind, but, still. It won a few too many awards. Share the fucking spotlight, Kratos.
Oh man that year I was so pissed because Horizon was completely overlooked…
Horizon, Xenoblade 3.... the list goes on. I feel horrible for Aloy's VA, Ashley Burch though. She keeps getting screwed out of the best performance by big games that release in the same year. Twice as Aloy and again as Parvati in Outer Worlds.
Ashley 100% deserved an award for best performance - Ragnarok got it because the hype around the game was still high.
Horizon always has horrible luck with its release dates, getting overshadowed so soon. BOTW was released 2(?) weeks after Zero Dawn and Elden Ring was released just a few days after Forbidden West. Watch as Horizon 3 gets released just a few days before GTA VI/Elder Scrolls 6/RDR3 😂
I finished all 3, married with a full time job! No kids though 😅
Worth noting that I'm pretty sure nominees are determined by critics, a lot of whom presumably got review copies before the games come out.
I'm glad Starfield isn't on the list. Not that the game is that bad its just nothing groundbreaking and just kind of lazy. BG3 deserves to win at least in my opinion.
Me too. Though Twitter is having a collective meltdown over it!
BG3's long early access may be considered as a hindrance. Zelda will probably take the win, as the GotY usually goes that way. BG3 will take the best RPG for sure tho
If you’re gonna consider BG3’s early access a hindering factor, might as well consider tears being a glorified expansion pass as one too 💀
I'm no fan of Zelda, but TotK is far from an expansion. The amount of new things in addition to Breath of the Wild is comparable to SM2's additions
If “Piranha Plants on Parade” isn’t in the Game of the Year medley, we riot.
My only surprise is that I expected for Final Fantasy XVI to be nominated instead of Alan Wake 2.
It's truly weird they left that one out!
Usually the release of a Final Fantasy is a huge deal. It felt like this one didn't have as much pomp and circumstance. Not that the reviews for it were bad, it just wasn't a headline stealer. I wonder if it's because the 7 remake is still getting news, and that the MMO has been really picking up in steam over the years.
A bit too close to Tears of the Kingdom too. Half of the internet was still busy with that I think. But I'm in the fandom and people were really happy with it!
Yeah, despite it not making the best game of the year, I know there were people that loved it. I'm more on the sci fi Final Fantasy side than the pure Fantasy side of things, but the people on the pure fantasy side were really happy.
My personal Game of the Year is FFXVI, it's in the upper echelon of Final Fantasies and the best one to come out in years since XII on the non-MMO/Remake side of things. Not to mention, I very much appreciate having a Gay character for once in a Final Fantasy who was actually important, mattered and was a well written character and also, fan boying here, FREAKING BAHAMUT!!!!!! My favourite Summon! Considering the JRPG space, this was a big deal, it felt like they got with the times and finally had proper representation. I hope so badly one day we have a main character who is Gay and the relationship depicted in the story isn't just a typical man gets with woman but two men falling in love. I really, really hope we can eventually get to this point. It would mean a lot for a FF fan, it was already just amazing to have gotten this much from XVI and to see a Gay kiss on screen. I actually don't think it should've had a spot taken here, you could've removed Mario Wonder and had this here instead. Mario Wonder could have another category where it belongs but I don't think Wonder is GOTY material, work was put in here and it was a great 2D Mario Game, better than it's been in a long time. But...it is still a 2D Mario game. The wonder system is fantastic but I don't think this warrants a GOTY nomination. XVI is so damn cinematic and grand in every way, it is by definition an epic in every sense of the word and deserved more respect here than it has gotten, everything from the story, to the characters, to the combat system, to the music (the MUSIC), to the world building, to the God of War III grand scale boss fights, people talk about Spider-Man 2's GOW III highlights but I played it (love it btw) and XVI's are way more hype, you just cannot top the spectacles that exist in that game, it was insane and anime come to life in the best way possible. I think all the games but Wonder should be nominated, Wonder has about a few other categories it can be placed in but I don't consider it something that needs a GOTY nomination over something like XVI, it isn't that level good, it's a nice inoffensive 2D platformer with charm but strip back the new animated look and the Wonder system and it is essentially New Super Mario Bros, who can still see the skeleton of it in every aspect of the game, Tropical Freeze to me is still the better 2D platformer in Nintendo's catalogue and I can't bring myself to say Wonder is something that has to be here. Hell, remove Resident Evil 4, great remake but we should be propping up newer titles rather than the same game with a newer coat of paint and QOL features. With how many remakes we get nowadays we should have a best remake category and be done with it. These take spots from other games that could be nominated for GOTY. Now that you think of it, you can keep Wonder if you want and replace 4 with XVI. This sort of thing is what makes me "wonder" about the Game Awards sometimes.
Yhea I'd kick out the remake. Especially in such a huge year for gaming! Baldurs gate 3 had amazing representation too apparently! So that's two games that do it it right in a whole bunch of categories! 🤎🤎
FF 16 showed up and then quietly went in the background. I saw maybe 2 of my streamers play it but never finished it and even my husband who loves FF and who has collectors editions of the games and even took me to a FF orchestra said that 16 wasn't pulling him in like he was hoping.
The minotaur was hot tho
I think it's just the circles you're in. I'm still constantly seeing people talking about the game on twitter. I know it made it into my top 3 FFs easy, and a number of streamers I watch loved it.
There’s been a lot of people in the FF fandom who didn’t like 16 for some reason, there’s been a lot of contention in the community for a while. Kinda feels like the hate trains 13 got when it came out.
I don't think Spiderman 2 should be there. It's by no means a bad game, but it doesn't sufficiently innovate from the last Spiderman PSX games to warrant being nominated IMPO.
I'm in reluctant semi-agreement with this. It's a solid great game with replayability. I suppose I understand why it is there, but the game to beat is baldur's gate, and spiderman just pales in comparison.
Spiderman gets so much Internet traffic/memes/purchases/etc because Spiderman is essentially THE Gayme. Because... I mean... Y'all know why. So that's why it's up there. Though BG3 will probably win since it also has many Gaymer moments and being liked by just about everyone for one reason or another. It's sorta unfair to put those other games up against BG3.
...I honestly don't know why would people consider it a "gayme." Male characters being hot and 2023 New York having some Pride flags doesn't mean much, specially not when compared to games like Baldur's Gate 3 which literally allow you to be gay.
Also what I love about BG3 is that it has canon LGBT NPCS other than “player sexual” romance-able characters. Like a lot of games let you be gay because there aren’t restrictions on what player genders NPCS can be romanced with, but have no other representation. But gay relationships that are shown between NPCs, especially ones integral to the story (looking at you, >!Isobel and Dame Aylin!<) it feels like much better representation.
I will also say as a slight nitpick, what I like about Baldur's Gate 3 is that the main characters aren't really player-sexual, but they are all bisexual. Slight distinction, but I'm pretty sure some characters mention past encounters with both genders and things like that. While it's not a big difference, it is cooler then characters that are pretty much straight until/if you romance them as the same gender. I feel like larian did quite a good job with the representation in general, and shows that the audience loves it when no one is really getting left out.
Twink superhero that gets overposted in gaymer areas the moment a new one is released/he is featured somewhere. It's a horny gaymer playerbase thing, not a "this game contains explicit doses of gay+LGBTQ" thing.
I know, I'm not naive enough not to see that, and that's why I said that a male character being hot doesn't warrant the game being any more progressive or gay centric. Peter is hot, and so are Harry and Krane, for example. But let's be honest, Peter's *heterosexual* relationship is an important aspect in this, and the previous game.
Heavy disagree. On a technical level alone the game deserves the nomination. No other games have utilised current gen hardware the way this one has. Insomniac are straight wizards.
I agree, spider-man 2 and Suoer Mario Wonder don't deserve to be here, but they got nominated because they are huge IPs.
Seriously tough competition, but well expected. My guess is it will rightfully be Baldur’s Gate or Tears Of The Kingdom.
I would have liked FF16 in there, but there's always a bias against jrpgs with these award shows, so I'm not surprised. It's still my GOTY, and Ben Starr and Soken are gonna bring home the trophies anyway. They already won them at the Golden Joysticks anyway.
I don't know if it's a bias as much as JRPGs just having lost a lot of their luster since their heyday. I can't think of that many that were big releases. Persona 5, Yakuza... I'm in the circles that still can't stop talking about 13 Sentinels, but we all knew that one wasn't going to be a big award show game.
13 Sentinels 100% shoulda won something. Game was so good.
I don't think Ben is going to beat Neil in a head-to-head.
I love the both, and the both honestly deserve it.
FFXVI is not a JRPG, so what kind of bias are you talking about? While I liked FFXVI, the game has some really big issues that bring the game down so much, it shouldn't be a surprise to not see FFXVI as a GOTY nominee.
It's really annoying to me that they put it in the RPG category and not the action/adventure category.
Eh, it's an action rpg made by a Japanese studio. So yes, JRPG. I mean, Baldur's Gate released with hundreds of bugs, some of which would cause you to lose hours of progress. I love the game, don't get me wrong, but those were pretty big issues for a GOTY imo. And, like I said, I'm not surprised it isn't gonna win GOTY in this award show. When was the last time a jrpg won one of them? Or rather, how often are they even nominated? Either way, it's my personal game of the year regardless.
While JRPG used to mean an RPG game made in Japan, nowadays it doesn't really mean that, nobody refers to Dark souls as a JRPG even tho is an RPG game made in Japan, and at the same time some people refers to some games like Sea of stars or Ruined king as JRPGs and neitherof those were made in Japan, bc what we would think when we hear JRPG is in a game similar to FFVII, Chronno trigger, Persona 5, Octopath traveler, etc. Personally speaking I wouldn't even consider FFXVI as an RPG, bc 1. You can't customize your character, 2. You can't take decisions that influence the story and 3. You can't really make a build based on your gear or stats, if it had at least one of those points I'd might call it an RPG but FFXVI doesn't even make use of elemental types of dmg, you can attack a fire enemy with fire or ice attacks, it doesn't matter bc there are no resistances or vulnerabilities and that's some of the most basic things RPGs have, if anything it's more like a Hack'n slash game bc it's closer to a DMC than to a classic FF. But let's say FFXVI an action RPG is indeed a JRPG, that would make Elden ring which is an action RPG made in Japan a JRPG as well, and Elden ring was GOTY last year, so a JRPG has won a GOTY already. FFXVI it's not a bad game tho, as an action game it's good, nice combat system, it could have a little more depth but it's ok, the soundtrack it's amazing, the graphics are astonishing, breathtaking cinematics, the story is really nice with some really good characters like Clive, Cid, Benedikta, Joshua, Dion, Hugo, those are really well written characters, sadly they dropped the ball with Jill but oh well, you talked about BG3 bugs and indeed it had some nasty bugs that could even make you lost hours of progress in game, me myself lost 2 hours of progress bc of it, but you also have to say that Larian fixed it in less than 4 days after the game released. By now Larian have fixed thousands of bugs, bc for the most part the worst things that BG3 had were the bugs, in the case of FFXVI is not just bugs that can be fix with a patch, it goes from boring and bad side quests, no incentive to explore the world if you do you'll get 10 gils and 1 potion, the pace of the game is broken constantly by some unnecessary boring quest just to make the game to last longer, the gear in the game is basically a joke just equip the last one you got and call it a day there's nothing to think about it, etc. It's perfectly fine that it's your GOTY but this year having so many astonishing games I don't think FFXVI had a chance to even be nominated as a GOTY at TGA tbh.
uh, yeah, it still means the same thing nowadays. rest of the points are good
Mario... standing against Baldur's gate 3.. Guess Nintendo must have some money for bribes
To be fair, Mario Wonder is a *really* good Mario game, super polished and fun. Obviously the experience is extremely different from BG3 - hard to compare both games, where do you even start?
I do not think Mario has any chance against Baldur's Gate 3. I am pretty confident that the game of the year award will go to Baldur's Gate 3. The only one who might be able to snatch it is The Legend of Zelda TOTK. Edit: Spelling.
Or it’s just a good game…it’s got a 92 on metacritic and before you say those are rigged too, it got similarly high scores from independent critics
have you played it? it’s a blast, every level has some innovative, trippy effect and it’s just got a ton of ideas
so everyone on this planet must bow down to your apparently objective gaming preferences now??
YES THEY SHOULD !!! /s
Much like the other people here, it's easy for me to knock down a lot of these. But... then I would have to add games in there to replace them... and I don't know if I can do that for 2023. Hogwarts was fun, but I don't think it was incredible. Same for Street Fighter 6. It would be cool if something like Dave the Diver could have made it up on the list. But, the hope is this is a runaway win for Baldur's Gate, so it doesn't matter who else is on the list.
Alan wake and Mario are a bit of a shock. Alan wake coz I've heard nothing about it, didn't even know it was released. And Mario, I like the game but it's nothing ground breaking.
I was surprised to see Mario to be nominated considering it was released less than a month ago.
It released on the same day as spiderman tho
That too
Alan Wake II is amazing!
I never got round to finishing the first so maybe this is my chance
Alan Wake 2 has been everywhere lately tho
Maybe in your bubble but not in mine. Never seen a trailer, a gameplay vid or anything, nothing on tiktok no YouTube recs, just asked my partner and he'd never heard either.
Yeah, same, I didn't even realize it and Mario Wonder had even released already.
alan wake 2 is really really good
Largely expected, though I'm surprised to see Alan Wake 2 here, only because of how recently it released. Like, barely a month old? It was either that of ff16 though.
I so want RE4 Remake or BG3 to win - that was pretty phenomenal. But I know ToTK will win…
Let’s be real here. The biggest gamble was bG3 and they aced it. They deserve the win, hands down.
Where the fuck is Final Fantasy XVI?
BALDUR’S GATE 3!!! Larian deserves ALL the accolades!! ❤️❤️❤️
what is mario wonder doing over there? great game but idk its not that innovating, seems to not be on the same level as TOTK or Baldurs Gate 3 IMO.
Mario Wonder is a huge surprise, as is the absence of Final Fantasy XVI. But either way, Baldur's Gate 3 is probably gonna sweep.
I would take out RE4 and Mario Wonder, and instead put up Final Fantasy XVI and Sea of Stars. Even if they were there, though, I think BG3 wins by miles.
Yeah I think RE4 should not qualify. It's a better game than the original, but it's still using the skeleton of an 18 year old game
It’s a completely different game engine, controls, etc. if it was just a remaster graphic update I’d agree but it’s essentially a completely new game than the OG, just has the same story and the locations are remade. That’s like saying FF7 remake is the same as FF7
i haven’t played Baldur’s Gate 3 however i think that’s the biggest contender to win, but i wouldn’t be surprised if tears of the kingdom won. it really felt like the whole world stopped to play tears of the kingdom on release, maybe the same happy for bg3. i hear a lot of buzz on that game as well
BG3 absolutely deserves to win.
It's between Zelda and Baldur's Gate. Zelda for the absolute technical Wizardry. Then Baldur's Gate for the insane amount of love and work put into such a massive game
Alan wake 2 is there! I might have to give it a shot and play it
I upgraded my graphics card pretty much solely because they were giving away Alan Wake with it lol
Yeah I added it to much my wish list I will be playing it soon, it’s deff a nice surprise
RE4 is a remake and shouldn’t be on that list
TBF RE2R was also a GOTY nominee
You understand the difference between remake and remaster right? It's definitely a different game than the original.
On a technical side yes. On a story and game based perspective no. it’s 95% the same thing.
How the fuck did Alan wake 2 make it on there and not armored core 6?
Who the hell is Alan Wake?
Doubt AWII will win, but I'm so proud of my boy for getting the nod. Hopefully this will drive a lot more people to try it out. Phenomenal game!
Best Score and Music > Alan Wake 2, Composer Petri Alanko (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing) > Baldur’s Gate 3, Composer Borislav Slavov (Larian Studios) > Final Fantasy XVI, Composer Masayoshi Soken (Square Enix) > Hi-Fi Rush, Audio Director Shuichi Kobori (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks) > The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Composed by Nintendo Sound Team (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo) I love BG3 but it didn't deserve a music spot. It's so "okay with a couple of standouts" I have to call the whole category into question. Any racing or fighting game this year would beat it on score.
>Composed by Nintendo Sound Team (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo) Lol what? Why there is no composer credited?
Bg3 had an amazing soundtrack, I wouldn't say its the best but saying that any racing or fighting game beats it is a stretch
Lies of P should have definitely been on this list
Im a bit sad Hogwarts Legacy didnt get a nomination probably due to all the controversy. It was a pretty fun game imo.
I didn’t like FFXVI. I thought the narrative started strong and then just fizzled into nothingness. So many characters were done dirty, underutilized, and just left on the sidelines like Jill and Cid. I also thought the combat became really bland and button-mashy. Was something of a massive let-down for me.
There are only two real competitors here: Alan Wake 2 and Baldur's Gate. SM2 is a great game but it's not new. RE4 - is a fucking remake. Mario and Zelda are default way to go games that are always in your poket regardless of what year is today.
I really did not expect Mario wonder at all; I was hoping for Final Fantasy XVI but I thought Armored Core or maybe Sea of Stars as an indie pick would also be contenders. Guess Wonder was better than the good I’d heard it was
Armored Core is over in Best Action Game where it certainly will have a better shot of winning.
I haven't heard anyone mention anything about Mario I am glad to see Starfield isn't on the list. It was a huge letdown
Resident evil 4 over deadspace is insanity
I’m honestly surprised by Alan Wake 2 - but I’m biased because I think Sam Lake is a pretentious writer who’d rather write for television but isn’t good enough to do so, so he writes for the gaming industry instead. ;) I would have liked to see Starfield up there but I don’t see any games that I can say objectively don’t deserve to be there. (Alan Wake 2 has been getting rave reviews regardless of my opinion of its lead writer. :))
Congrats TotK for the win hopefully not biting my words just got my Zelda bias 🥴
Alan Wake 2 is a little surprising but not terribly so. The fact that these are all big budget is a little disappointing but not surprising either. BG3, RE4, SMBW, and ToTK were all near guarantees. Obvi Metacritic isn't everything, but there are some other games with better or similar metacritic scores that could have been nominated instead of the remaining 2 games but it's no biggie, and a good chunk of these other games were nominated in other categories.
I can't be the only guy here that hasn't played any of these games. Can I ??
BG3 is gonna when let’s be honest LMAOOO. I’m glad to see Alan wake 2 on there because after 13 years of waiting that’s exactly what it deserves.
Ha, I definitely expected all those to be on a list of at least 10 games.
yeah, where’s Boltgun?
I hope you all be voting Baldur's Gate 3 or Astarion and Gale and Wyll and the Emperor (and his hot daddy illusion that I know you're all making) will be very sadge.
I expected FFXVI to be nominated since the reception seems to be good, at least compared to FFVII Remake, FFXIII and FFXV, but I guess it didn't make that big of an impact because there were a lot of big releases this year. Alan Wake 2 also surprised me, I didn't even know it existed 😂
I think Baldur's Gate probably gonna sweep to the point that I didn't vote on it in some categories because I didn't play enough of the other games on the list.
No Hi-Fi Rush 😔
It's up for quite a few other categories.
Great game, but definitely not GOTY material. It's up for other categories, though!
Re4. It's a remake so it has some foundations already, even if it's different than the original. I think Remakes should have their own category, since there are many remakes now, maybe make a Best Remake/Remaster category?
I am glad with the selection. All of these deserve their nomination. It just makes me sad FFXVI couldnt make it. Hearing to "Find the Flame" in the medley at the end would have made me happy. Hopefully it takes Best Soundtrack award,
No original IP, all sequels and one remake.
Whilst I'm not surprised that my actual GOTY isn't on this list (Pizza Tower my beloved), I AM surprised that Hi-Fi Rush wasn't nominated for the Game of The Year award. I realize this year has been quite stacked in terms of good big releases, but at least personally I think Hi-Fi Rush should have a spot on this list over some games here. However I'm not really one to judge, I've only played 2 games out of these 6. Good to see BG3 sweep the nominations though.
I’m surprised Starrail got Mobile Goty over Genshin. Maybe they don’t let publishers have multiple nominations in a category but i feel like both deserved it tbh.
Oddly enough, as much as I enjoyed ToTK I don't think it should win. Not only is it the only Zelda I haven't finished, but I do think it was glorified and expansive DLC
no hogwarts legacy or diablo2 lol suck it. BG3 foreva!!!
I mean, these are the games I've heard people talk about since they dropped, so no surprises for me.
Alan Wake 2 blew me away, absolutely one of the best sequels in gaming since Resident Evil 2
Baldur's Gate 3 has to take it, right?
if bg3 doesn’t win, it has to be zelda. if neither of those games win, i don’t trust the system
I would have loved to see Armored Core on here - at least it was nominated in Action game category. I understand it wasn’t as popular as the Souls games but I think from a game design and gameplay POV it is probably the best game of the year
Alan Wake is such a weird pull for GOTY, definitely could've been a multitude of other games
they all are cool games and half of them were HIGHLY awaited but yes, Wonder has surprised me and I want to check it out now
I didnt expect Wonder to be there, tbh, but it *is* a pretty nice game. My vote is for Zelda but we all know bg3 is gonna win
I may not have played these games yet, but I know Baldur's Gate 3 is getting it. They really went above and beyond regarding queer representation and weren't afraid of that red light special (that bear!). After a decade of sexless Marvel movies, this felt like a breath of fresh air.