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The Game Award GOTY Nominees

nikos

Member
Out of those games, I'd go:

PUBG
Super Mario Odyssey
Persona 5
BOTW / Horizon should be replaced by NieR.
 

kylekey

Neo Member
Divinity: Original Sin 2 should've been up for GOTY, but since it's not, Horizon: Zero Dawn+The Frozen Wilds gets my vote. The enemy design is great, the combat was fun and made even more difficult with Ultra Hard mode+the general difficulty increase of The Frozen Wilds, and the graphics+HDR lighting are more impressive overall than any other game I've played (I run multiplats mostly at 4K/ultra settings with a GTX1080), but I play games primarily for their stories, and even only reading science fiction books, I was surprised that I still thought Horizon's story and lore was great and relatively unique.
Story spoiler:
***
I haven't read a book about two AIs essentially fighting for control of terraforming a planet before--if anyone else knows of something similar, please correct me.
***

With my taste, I don't see how BotW and Mario can be in contention; games with flat characters, little to no voiceacting, afterthought stories (that have been repeatedly done in titles from the same series at that), graphics that aren't technically proficient, recycled enemies, and average-at-best writing don't provide motivation to explore their worlds, and that's too many areas for a title to be lacking to win GOTY.
 

Chipworm

Member
Out of those options I'd pick Zelda. I haven't played PUGB so wouldn't like to comment. I struggled to get into Horizon but I'll try again at some point.
 

ecosse_011172

Junior Member
With my taste, I don't see how BotW and Mario can be in contention; games with flat characters, little to no voiceacting, afterthought stories (that have been repeatedly done in titles from the same series at that), graphics that aren't technically proficient, recycled enemies, and average-at-best writing don't provide motivation to explore their worlds, and that's too many areas for a title to be lacking to win GOTY.

Considering how many people seem to spend over 100 hours on BOTW, I don't think there is motivation to explore. I'm more motivated to explore BoTW than any game in history.

As for "aren't technically proficient", they are both beautiful games.
 

Melubas

Member
Well, considering the only game of the five GOTY nominees I played is Horizon I don't really feel I can vote. Horizon was ok, but I felt it was just like all the other open world games that I grew tired of ages ago. You get a map with stuff to do, you get some crafting missions, some timed missions, some "climb a big thing to reveal the map" missions. The world was good and it was a beautiful game no doubt, and while the story had an interesting premise it failed to draw me in.
I couldn't really relate to it since I don't think I would care that much if humanity went extinct or not (on a big scale, I would care about family/friends). I would probably just accept it and make the most of the time I had left. It also lacked interesting characters save for Aloy.

Horizon is a solid 7 or 8/10 for me, with the way too familiar open world formula being what drags it down. I feel that the only game that did open world well so far was The Witcher 3. It is totally ok to like it though, I'm not shitting on anyone else's opinion, just giving my own :)
 

kylekey

Neo Member
Considering how many people seem to spend over 100 hours on BOTW, I don't think there is motivation to explore.

Load up a game with 900 trinkets to collect, even if you only (literally) get a pile of poop as a reward for finding them all, and that's enough for many people. At least all the collectibles in Horizon give you a piece of a story to read, or dialogue to listen to; they all feed into the lore of the world. BotW's approach is not motivation to me, which is why I said "with my taste." You didn't dispute most of what I said though, so again, with my taste, where is the motivation to fight stock skeletons and goblins with weapons that have the durability of tissue paper when I know that the story, characters, voiceacting and writing aren't there? Some of the game mechanics also lack cohesion; rain knocks you down, but you can climb sheer vertical ice with nothing to grab on to.

- The protagonist is silent, with no personality even after thirty years of games, and the antagonist is almost always just evil for the sake of being evil; I don't think it's possible to create flatter characters in fiction than these two.

- The voiceacting is barely there, and what little exists is not high quality; an entire industry, with companies spending millions of dollars getting great actors to read thousands of lines for games nowadays, while Nintendo essentially ignores it entirely, and gets a pass every time.

- Horizon, surprisingly, found a legitimate sci fi reason for robot animals to exist in its world, while BotW goes with a cliched amnesia storyline, and sprinkles in things that don't make sense like blood moon resurrections, yet you still have to invoke alternate worlds to make the story even approach fitting into the official timeline; even if 'anything goes, because magic' wasn't the height of lazy storytelling, re-doing "Link needs to save Zelda/Hyrule from Ganon" again and again is.

And the graphics aren't even close; Horizon pushes the cutting edge of console graphics at a pretty much locked 30fps, even at checkerboard 4K with HDR lighting--while BotW runs at 900p with predictable frame drops, low res textures everywhere, simple geometry and shadows, and little to no anti-aliasing.

botwxhkj9.jpg


36488091080_80fa594a94_o.png
 

JustCheeze

Neo Member
People better vote Tekken 7 as fighting game of the year. Shame of you if you think injustass or arms as a proper fighting game.
 
Nintendo games are for Nintendo fans.
Average Nintendo fan wants cute art style and direction, family friendly content and crisp gameplay, tied with some technological gimmick alá wiimote/second screen/portable device.

Are they start growing tiresome? Yes.
Are they masterpieces? Most games, Yes.
Do they deserve a GOTY contender status? I don't know, Sony has grown so much with all its exclusives and games like Yakuza 0, RE7 with VR and Ni-Oh should be on that list as well.

The mistake, in my humble opinion, is limiting the choices to five arbitrary chosen games.
The options should have been more and more different.


PS: no matter how popular, an incomplete game shouldn't be on a list of a possible goty candidates.
 

ubiblu

Member
Horizon is one of the most overrated games I have ever played. Looks good, plays well, but the exploration is incredibly limiting after playing something like BotW: can’t even climb a fucking rock pile let alone a mountain in the distance. Had enough fun to get the platinum, but sold it promptly afterwards.

I’ve never played PUBG, but the other three? Easily my top 3 games of the last 5-10 years. I first beat P5 in 2016, but apparently it’s a contender in the West. Best 12-24 months of gaming in many, many years.

Sad not to see D:OS2, Yakuza 0, and Cuphead up there, but take solace in Nioh, Nier, and RE7 not being undeservedly nominated also.
 

Fuz

Banned
Also, is horizon really that good? Haven't even tried it because I absolutely detest offcentered cameras.
 

sephiroth7x

Member
With my taste, I don't see how BotW and Mario can be in contention; games with flat characters, little to no voiceacting, afterthought stories (that have been repeatedly done in titles from the same series at that), graphics that aren't technically proficient, recycled enemies, and average-at-best writing don't provide motivation to explore their worlds, and that's too many areas for a title to be lacking to win GOTY.

I find this a very odd comment.

If you were arguing for a movie nomination I can completely understand your point... but both Mario and BotW are two of the finest games this year.

I am sure there will be a category for 'Best Voice Acting' or 'Best Original Story' where these incredibly talented people will be recognised and Mario/Zelda won't, but as a game... stripped down and enjoyable as a game there is nothing better this year than either title. BotW's motivation is that it is extremely enjoyable.

I want to play it and not listen to it or hear it... to play it... Mario is the same with the exception of the motion controls tacked on... screw that... haha.

EDIT: Seen another comment above about it. Its all about the graphics/voice acting/story etc... if this was a category for Best Graphics, then yes, out of the games above, Horizon is the winner. But its not... its GOTY... which game was the best to play... Horizon may be a technical master class and take nothing away from its achievements... but for me (and this is just opinion) BotW is a better game...
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
Horizon is one of the most overrated games I have ever played. Looks good, plays well, but the exploration is incredibly limiting after playing something like BotW: can’t even climb a fucking rock pile let alone a mountain in the distance. Had enough fun to get the platinum, but sold it promptly afterwards.
It not just about limited exploration, in horizon there is actually nothing to explore. Also Horizon's graphics looks better on the surface but there is less going on in actual open world part of it compare to BotW. I finally able experience BotW after getting Switch and in my opinion Horizon's open world compare to BotW is absolute trash.
 

Trickfinger

Neo Member
It's between zelda and mario for me. Probably Zelda.

But really guys, Horizon doesnt even begin to compare to BOTW. not in the same league, at all.
 

TLZ

Banned
Zelda for me. Voted Mario as best fam game. Cuphead for art. Resident Evil 7 for direction.
 
Did you even play them?


Yeah, I did, but they pale compared to what Sony did, at least Mario.

Zelda? Zelda is great, but I had the feeling of playing the same game all over again. But there is nothing like Yakyza 0 or RE7 played with VR on the market.

Horizon is a technical wonder with an excellent combat system and art direction and one of the most likeable protagonists.
 

ckaneo

Member
This thread is toxic, wow.

Dont care for all the games but they were the right choices. I dont know about beta games though....
 

Scopa

The Tribe Has Spoken
Really hard to pick between BotW and Odyssey, but I’d give it to BotW.

The word “wow” sums that game up perfectly. All time classic.
 
If you're going to add criteria that states excellence in creative and technical fields, pubg and Zelda are out. Both great games but have glaring technical issues. PubG I'd say is the least deserving to be on this list at all. It's hardly creative, is early access, and runs like crud on a lot of computers.

It's a toss-up between horizon and Mario for me, edging towards Mario for the goty. It's just so damn fun.
 

Joe T.

Member
Zelda's a solid game, a popular game, but it's not Game of the Year material to me. It's Nintendo's first 3D open world action/RPG and has a lot of room for improvement. I haven't touched Odyssey, but if it's as good as most of the reviews claim then it easily trumps Zelda in this year's list just by virtue of introducing a new mechanic to the series that makes it feel fresh.

My vote would go to Horizon for giving us a technically impressive showpiece with a strong female lead and an original story. It's far more challenging to deliver a strong, original IP than it is the umpteenth entry in a long running franchise and Sony delivered.
 
Zelda's a solid game, a popular game, but it's not Game of the Year material to me. It's Nintendo's first 3D open world action/RPG and has a lot of room for improvement. I haven't touched Odyssey, but if it's as good as most of the reviews claim then it easily trumps Zelda in this year's list just by virtue of introducing a new mechanic to the series that makes it feel fresh.

My vote would go to Horizon for giving us a technically impressive showpiece with a strong female lead and an original story. It's far more challenging to deliver a strong, original IP than it is the umpteenth entry in a long running franchise and Sony delivered.

Woah! So Mario trumps Zelda for introducing new mechanics to make it feel fresh? Zelda didn’t do anything new or different for the series to make It feel fresh, no?

I’d also tend to agree with your point about new IP, but as I’ve alluded to, BotW brings so many new mechanics and a completely new structure compared to the other titles in the series, I’d argue that it’s harder to reinvent such an iconic series in the way that they did.
 

Litri

Member
The fact that "the industry" is treating this "awards" in the same way as movies, emulating the categories from "The Oscars" when video games should never be compared to them, is sickening. I think I already stated this last year and they year before. Where is the "Funniest game of the year"? or "Best band for your buck? or "Best gameplay?. Ahhhh, maybe because these categories would sound childish?

I have nothing against the nominees because they fit in that "let's make this the oscars of the video games" narrative but let's face it, nobody will give a fuck if these awards were not called like that or if they used radically different categories. In my opinion, these awards have been invaded by hipsters since a long time ago.

I'm not trying to derail the thread but I thought I should share this.
 

Slash76

Member
Zelda: BOTW is clearly the 2017 GOTY in my opinion. It's a masterpiece, perhaps the best game in years. Super Mario Odissey is also an amazing game, but not as excellent as Zelda. This year I also enjoyed a lot Nier automata and Persona 5. Looking forward December 12th to play PUBG on my Xbox One X, I haven't played it yet.
 

Croatoan

They/Them A-10 Warthog
Ok, caught up. Man that one guy just couldn't handle people not liking Horizon huh?

Anyways, pretty good list of great games. I kinda want PUBG to win so I can watch yall melt down though. Would at least lead to one really hilarious thread.
 
Wow Ninty vs Sony
But I'll go with BOTW though
Fantastic game, felt like playing The Witcher 3
Never heard PUBG, sorry if this trigger fanboy
 

jts

...hate me...
Would think Nintendo was going to drop Zelda DLC 2 by now to get the game again in people's minds, although I'm not sure it needs it.
 
Persona 5 has my vote. One of the best games I've ever played.

Not sure if I'd put Horizon up there though personally. It felt like yet another open world game to me with admittedly a really good art direction. Maybe I'm just burned out on these open world games at this point. But hey, in a year where there were so many great games, making a shortlist is kind of difficult.
 
Fascinating how different everyone’s opinions are. I haven’t played Horizon yet but BofW is the best single player game I have ever played and well deserving of GOTY. I hated Persona 5 and while Mario has been fun so far it hasn’t kept me glued to the game like Zelda did.
 
Yup those crazys get banned sooner or later.

Yep, just like the one guy who oddly kept trying to be your friend. He probably won't like that you chose PUBG as your GOTY, though, lol.

Ok, caught up. Man that one guy just couldn't handle people not liking Horizon huh?

Anyways, pretty good list of great games. I kinda want PUBG to win so I can watch yall melt down though. Would at least lead to one really hilarious thread.

Seriously! Good riddance that kid is gone. And I agree, I want PUBG to win too but I know it's all going to Nintendo this year, and I'm fine with that. They absolutely demolished everyone this year.
 
My votes

GOTY: Zelda: Botw

Best Game Direction: Zelda: Botw

Best Narrative: Horizon

Best Art Direction: Cuphead (duh)

Best score: Cuphead

Best Audio design: RE7

Best Performance: Brian Bloom.

Games of Impact: Hellblade

Best "ongoing game": Overwatch

Best Mobile Game: Super Mario Run

Best handheld: Metroid (i guess?)

Best VR: Re7

Best Action game: Nioh (easily)

Best action/adventure: Zelda Botw

Best RPG: Divinity 2

Best fighting game: Injustice 2

Best family game: Mario Odyssey

Best Strategy game: Mario + Rabbids

Best racing/sports: Forza 7

Best MP game: CoD: WW2 (only MP i have played this year apart from some LoL)

Most anticipated: RDR2 by far

Best indie game: Cuphead

Trending Gamer: Steven Spohn

Best esports game: LoL is still the king

Best indie debut: Cuphead
 

kylekey

Neo Member
I find this a very odd comment.

If you were arguing for a movie nomination I can completely understand your point... but both Mario and BotW are two of the finest games this year.

Both games obviously include characters, they include non-interactive cutscenes for relaying story, they include writing, and they include voice acting; you're trying to give them a pass because they don't do a great job at any of these things, but the fact remains that they try to include them.

EDIT: Seen another comment above about it. Its all about the graphics/voice acting/story etc... if this was a category for Best Graphics, then yes, out of the games above, Horizon is the winner. But its not... its GOTY... which game was the best to play...

That's just not correct, the site says that GotY means "Recognizing a game that delivers the absolute best experience across all creative and technical fields," not "which game was the best to play." Story, voice acting, writing, characters and technical graphics all fall under "creative and technical fields" so they need to be included in the criteria; again, you're trying to use your own definition because Nintendo is far behind the industry in these areas. Even still, Horizon has better combat since the weapons don't constantly break, and more unique enemy design too.

It seems silly to claim that a game can lose on story, graphics, characters, writing, combat, enemy design, voice acting, sound, animation, microtransactions (Horizon has none, while you need ridiculously expensive Amiibo toys to see everything in BotW), and performance (fps steadiness), but should still be considered GotY because you can climb vertical surfaces with nothing to hold on to, pull a paraglider out of your butt in mid air, and collect hundreds of trinkets that literally reward you with a piece of poop.
 

janoDX

Member
I've played all 5 nominees.

BOTW should be the GOTY, no doubt, Nintendo pushed the open world steps ahead, the physics, the music is relaxing, it's just almost perfection in a game. This is the best Open World I have played since RDR.

Odyssey broke the mold of a Mario game again. But lacks that something that BOTW has.

Persona 5 is by far the best RPG of 2017, the story, music, the art, all goes together.

Horizon is a technical marvel, looks incredible, Guerrilla deserves the praise, but I would love if they adopt some of the Open World advancements BOTW did and make the 2nd game, even more, better and get the top spot for GOTY next time.

PUBG should be replaced by Nier, Divinity 2, hell, even Forza 7 or Cuphead if they wanted an Xbox game. The game is unpolished, it's fun, but I stopped playing when I realized the game lacks optimization and that a 7th gen intel processor is having problems with it.


It seems silly to claim that a game can lose on story, graphics, characters, writing, combat, enemy design, voice acting, sound, animation, microtransactions (Horizon has none, while you need ridiculously expensive Amiibo toys to see everything in BotW), and performance (fps steadiness), but should still be considered GotY because you can climb vertical surfaces with nothing to hold on to, pull a paraglider out of your butt in mid air, and collect hundreds of trinkets that literally reward you with a piece of poop.

kylekey
Junior Member
(Today, 02:31 PM)
 

cuate

Banned
Both games obviously include characters, they include non-interactive cutscenes for relaying story, they include writing, and they include voice acting; you're trying to give them a pass because they don't do a great job at any of these things, but the fact remains that they try to include them.



That's just not correct, the site says that GotY means "Recognizing a game that delivers the absolute best experience across all creative and technical fields," not "which game was the best to play." Story, voice acting, writing, characters and technical graphics all fall under "creative and technical fields" so they need to be included in the criteria; again, you're trying to use your own definition because Nintendo is far behind the industry in these areas. Even still, Horizon has better combat since the weapons don't constantly break, and more unique enemy design too.

It seems silly to claim that a game can lose on story, graphics, characters, writing, combat, enemy design, voice acting, sound, animation, microtransactions (Horizon has none, while you need ridiculously expensive Amiibo toys to see everything in BotW), and performance (fps steadiness), but should still be considered GotY because you can climb vertical surfaces with nothing to hold on to, pull a paraglider out of your butt in mid air, and collect hundreds of trinkets that literally reward you with a piece of poop.

you are an idiot
 

Joe T.

Member
Woah! So Mario trumps Zelda for introducing new mechanics to make it feel fresh? Zelda didn’t do anything new or different for the series to make It feel fresh, no?

It did, it took the open world approach to 3D in grand fashion, but I thought that strength became a weakness as the novelty of the world wore off. The lack of enemy variety, their numbers and their simple AI routines didn't do the game much justice, an example being bokoblin archers that can't hit you at all when you place yourself right under their nose, no attempt made to reposition themselves.

It's important to note that I'm not trying to suggest BotW didn't do anything new, far from it, I just don't think it delivers the complete package quite as well as other games nor is it doing anything to move the medium forward. It's my personal favorite on the list (I'm probably well past 100 hours invested), just not the one I think deserves this particular award.

I’d also tend to agree with your point about new IP, but as I’ve alluded to, BotW brings so many new mechanics and a completely new structure compared to the other titles in the series, I’d argue that it’s harder to reinvent such an iconic series in the way that they did.

It can be, especially in today's world where people will find almost any excuse to feel outraged. I guess the open world didn't impress me as much as it did most others because I've poured ridiculous amounts of time into other open world games like FFXI, RDR and the GTA series, so I have a certain expectation that anyone choosing to go that route will have learned lessons from all the games that came before. Pitting a bokoblin against a Hinox or cucco against a Lynel was fun to watch the first time around, but after years of pitting NPC against NPC with much more interesting results in Liberty City and Los Santos it's hard for me to say BotW was doing anything all that remarkable.
 

blackanother

Neo Member
1. Persona 5
2. Mario
3. Zelda

PUBG shouldn't be on the list, it's early access. Even if you can buy it, it's a buggy mess, and will only get votes because streamers, not because it's a well made game.
 
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