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Golden Joystick Awards: Baldur's Gate 3 wins Game of The Year

rodrigolfp

Haptic Gamepads 4 Life
It's a turn-based game, you're not going to get an advantage just because you can access item with 1 instead of 2 or 3 button presses. I personally prefer M+K overall but walking is a huge part of the game time and it feels much better on a controller.
I get an advantage vs losing more time.
 

MidGenRefresh

*Refreshes biennially
I get an advantage vs losing more time.

Not really a game that I'd like to rush. Your hate boner on controllers is fucking cringe, just stop it. It works and it works well and thanks to that more people can enjoy amazing games like BG3 or Age of Empires II.
 

lmimmfn

Member
Absolutely well deserved, what an absolutely amazing game, the best RPG I've played since Witcher 3!

Bloody fantastic, literally 😀
 

rodrigolfp

Haptic Gamepads 4 Life
Not really a game that I'd like to rush. Your hate boner on controllers is fucking cringe, just stop it. It works and it works well and thanks to that more people can enjoy amazing games like BG3 or Age of Empires II.
I hate controls that slow down/handicap my gameplay. Do you see me loving M+kb to play SIM racers or platformers?

People could enjoy BG3 and AoEII with option to m+kb on consoles too. It's not a matter of platform.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
Xenoblade 3: Future Redeemed also MIA. :messenger_crying:
tumblr_oneiphlFQ61v351yro1_500.gif
 

MidGenRefresh

*Refreshes biennially
People could enjoy BG3 and AoEII with option to m+kb on consoles too. It's not a matter of platform.

Are you absolutely sure BG3 supports mouse and keyboard on PS5? Are you?

More controller options for games are always good and only intellectually handicapped would argue otherwise. Don't like it? Don't use it. Fucking cringe.
 

nemiroff

Gold Member
Yeah, it's better on a gamepad because you can move your character and not point and click like a complete prick but c'mon, it's also serviceable using a mouse.
You can hold down the mouse button and you'll walk until you release it, it feels much like on a controller. I'm 90% of the time a controller player, but in BG3 I use a mouse because it feels more intuitive (at least to me).
 

Heimdall_Xtreme

Jim Ryan Fanclub's #1 Member








Here is the full list of all tonight's Golden Joystick Awards 2023 winners:

GOLDEN JOYSTICK AWARD WINNERS 2023​




Mega Stroke for Zelda 😂

💔
 

XXL

Member
I personally prefer M+K overall but walking is a huge part of the game time and it feels much better on a controller.
I have it on PS5 and PC and I disagree.

At first I thought so too, but the more I played I realized M+K is better for exploration. You can just select a place off in the distance and they'll just go there, while you rotate and zoom out to see more of the environment.

With that said, the controls on controller work better than they have any right to.

The biggest advantage of M+K is inventory management, imo.
 
I remember when everyone was jerking off Starfield. I didn’t see shit. I classify those games as time wasters like Ubisoft games.
 

MagiusNecros

Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
As usual Armored Core VI is going get ignored because it’s Mecha game.
Best Mecha Game of the Year. But this is just overall a pointless pissing contest on what's popular.

Niche games like Armored Core won't be popping up in a popularity contest.

For me games like Super Mario Wonder matter more to me then any games on these lists.

I still played Deep Rock Galactic more this year then any game showcased here.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Call of the Mountain as best VR game is pure smelly ass bullshit. Why did they have category per system, to please everybody equally instead of just rank the games and pit them against each other on their merits, that's bullshit.

Is Starfield better than R4make since R4make is best PS5 game but is also on Xbox yet on Xbox Starfield won over it or what the fuck? And how is Baldur's Gate III the bestest if it also is available on PS5 but on PS5 R4make won?

Fuck this shitadshow. Thank you.
 
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WitchHunter

Banned
Oh, the lack of romance options... I cannot romance the cruel evil bitch, so sad right now. I also cannot romance the cows in the barn. What about the mongrels and the monsters, they need love too, right?

Why don't they make a "You Fucked every hole in the game, even your own" achievement. And this must be a sticky achievement, so whenever a friend of yours checks your gamer profile they see what a horny weasel you are.
 

Doom85

Member
Niche games like Armored Core won't be popping up in a popularity contest.

Seth Meyers Reaction GIF by Late Night with Seth Meyers


Bruh, the winner of GOTY is from a niche series and genre itself: Baldur’s Gate and CRPG.

You all can be salty about it, but Larian marketed its game very well: an extremely well received Early Access with a ton of content, and then an extremely well done panel showing the insane amount of features and way they have evolved the genre, plus nailing transitioning the game to consoles where the genre hasn’t always been smoothly handled there and thus widening their audience significantly.

Meanwhile, with Armored Core, I look at the gameplay video and it looks well handled, but I’m not seeing a massive evolution of the mecha genre here. That’s not a bad thing, but don’t be surprised if you haven’t instantly widened the audience of the genre if that’s the case. With FROM, Souls games didn’t have massive audiences for a while, it was a slow building of a fanbase that finally massively paid off with Elden Ring. FROM earned that breakout success there, but nothing I’ve seen of AC 6 tells me why it should massively expand its audience with ONE new game.

Also, in a mech game, I want my mech and enemy mechs to stand out. I get that it’s supposed to be a grim sci-fi world, but the lack of color is an instant turn off for me. Everything looks too same-y to me. I’ve never heard Gunpla fans say, “man, I sure wish all these model kits I’m buying would offer far less color variety”. I can’t help but wonder if this turned off a decent amount of other mech fans as well, most mech anime have mech that really stand out from one another and AC 6 didn’t show that, and if it was an option, that should have been marketed better.

When I saw BG 3 previews, I was blown away by the insane amount of work Larian had done to evolve the genre. When I saw AC 6 previews, I thought, “yep, that’s AC on modern consoles”. Nothing wrong with that, but you can’t expect people to just instantly get interested that way. Marketing is important. Look at Nintendo and Mario 3D World. The first preview got mostly negative reactions as it just looked like New Super Mario Bros (which most were burned out on) in 3D, but the second preview did a far better job showcasing the insane variety of new gameplay mechanics, power ups, etc. Thus fan reception got WAY better, and while it wasn’t a massive success due to being on a console with a low amount of owners, everyone was thrilled to see it coming to Switch.

If FROM wants Armored Core to be a massive success (and it was successful to a degree, in fact some of you were praising its sales in the sales thread, so this feel kind of weird for you now to be blaming people not playing it), then they’ll have to market future entries better and figure out how to evolve the genre further.

Just saying: Nier Automata was by FAR my GOTY of 2017, but I was not clueless on why BOTW won pretty much everywhere over it. Nintendo marketed it very well and it really was a massive shift in the genre and series. Even if some of it didn’t appeal to me, I wasn’t clueless on why it appealed to so many people even those who played little to no Zelda before, and I was chill about the results even if Nier Automata was the much better experience for me. BG 3 is this year’s BOTW (and yes, that’s hilariously ironic considering what also came out in 2023). Even if one didn’t play it, if you actually pay attention to what the game did and how people have been receiving it, it shouldn’t be upsetting that it’s winning.
 
One of the greatest RPG's ever made is getting the recognition it deserves. So glad to see Larian's success. I hope this gives them all the breathing room they need to make whatever great next game they want to make. I'd love to see them dip their toes into the 40k universe.

Whatever they do next, they've earned all the accolades they've received.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
Seth Meyers Reaction GIF by Late Night with Seth Meyers


Bruh, the winner of GOTY is from a niche series and genre itself: Baldur’s Gate and CRPG.

You all can be salty about it, but Larian marketed its game very well: an extremely well received Early Access with a ton of content, and then an extremely well done panel showing the insane amount of features and way they have evolved the genre, plus nailing transitioning the game to consoles where the genre hasn’t always been smoothly handled there and thus widening their audience significantly.

Meanwhile, with Armored Core, I look at the gameplay video and it looks well handled, but I’m not seeing a massive evolution of the mecha genre here. That’s not a bad thing, but don’t be surprised if you haven’t instantly widened the audience of the genre if that’s the case. With FROM, Souls games didn’t have massive audiences for a while, it was a slow building of a fanbase that finally massively paid off with Elden Ring. FROM earned that breakout success there, but nothing I’ve seen of AC 6 tells me why it should massively expand its audience with ONE new game.

Also, in a mech game, I want my mech and enemy mechs to stand out. I get that it’s supposed to be a grim sci-fi world, but the lack of color is an instant turn off for me. Everything looks too same-y to me. I’ve never heard Gunpla fans say, “man, I sure wish all these model kits I’m buying would offer far less color variety”. I can’t help but wonder if this turned off a decent amount of other mech fans as well, most mech anime have mech that really stand out from one another and AC 6 didn’t show that, and if it was an option, that should have been marketed better.

When I saw BG 3 previews, I was blown away by the insane amount of work Larian had done to evolve the genre. When I saw AC 6 previews, I thought, “yep, that’s AC on modern consoles”. Nothing wrong with that, but you can’t expect people to just instantly get interested that way. Marketing is important. Look at Nintendo and Mario 3D World. The first preview got mostly negative reactions as it just looked like New Super Mario Bros (which most were burned out on) in 3D, but the second preview did a far better job showcasing the insane variety of new gameplay mechanics, power ups, etc. Thus fan reception got WAY better, and while it wasn’t a massive success due to being on a console with a low amount of owners, everyone was thrilled to see it coming to Switch.

If FROM wants Armored Core to be a massive success (and it was successful to a degree, in fact some of you were praising its sales in the sales thread, so this feel kind of weird for you now to be blaming people not playing it), then they’ll have to market future entries better and figure out how to evolve the genre further.

Just saying: Nier Automata was by FAR my GOTY of 2017, but I was not clueless on why BOTW won pretty much everywhere over it. Nintendo marketed it very well and it really was a massive shift in the genre and series. Even if some of it didn’t appeal to me, I wasn’t clueless on why it appealed to so many people even those who played little to no Zelda before, and I was chill about the results even if Nier Automata was the much better experience for me. BG 3 is this year’s BOTW (and yes, that’s hilariously ironic considering what also came out in 2023). Even if one didn’t play it, if you actually pay attention to what the game did and how people have been receiving it, it shouldn’t be upsetting that it’s winning.
I would say CRPG has much more appeal to western audience compare to mecha games, even they make Armored Core more "colorfull" and marketing for mass appeal it still wouldn't help because mecha games just never going to appeal to to western audience no matter what they do.
 
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Doom85

Member
I would say CRPG has much more appeal to western audience compare to mecha games, even they make Armored Core more "colorfull" and marketing for mass appeal it still wouldn't help because mecha games just never going to appeal to to western audience no matter what they do.

you can eating GIF by Showtime


I said in my post: sometimes you have to work for that wider audience. FROM truly earned that with the Souls games, slowly building a reputation with each game until the big payoff with Elden Ring and its massive sales success. And it was definitely niche, the first few Soulsborne games were not massive sellers.

Also, I think BG 3 clearly worked hard to appeal to a wider audience even beyond its genre fans. Lord know it helped me coming off FF XVI which wanted its RPG elements to be mostly meaningless and I needed a RPG to recover from my disappointment. BG 3 was just the ticket, and honestly despite not being one, would deserve to be called a JRPG over FF XVI which feels almost ashamed to be in the genre (hell, many of the “differences” BG 3 has from the JRPG genre have actually been in some JRPGs: main character creation/customization, choices affecting story to an extent, dice rolls in combat). I was almost tempted to make a thread about it, but thought it might be redundant after the “GOW: Ragnarok is more a RPG than FF XVI” thread.

And no, I can’t agree that for a long while that mech games had less appeal than CRPGs. The latter didn’t quite work on console for a long time while mech games had no issue so mech games already had an advantage there with more systems to be covered by. Larian already made a good step with Divinity 2 and how it played on consoles and lo and behold the sales showed the payoff. BG 3 was just the next logical step.

Christ, I was just mentioning Nier Automata, a game that sold 7.5 million, and that game is weird as fuck as anything from Yoko Taro is. If his crazy (but brilliant) ass can make it big by teaming up with Platinum who greatly improved the combat compared to the original first game and also leaned in on the attractive element of the lead character, I’m not accepting a defeatist attitude from the mech genre of, “well, you guys, not enough people will give us a chance.” Learn to market your game better and win more people over. FROM earned this with Souls over time, and I’ve yet to hear a good argument on why AC 6 is so special compared to other mech games on why it should win over such a massive amount of people instantly as opposed to slowly building an audience like Souls did.

And once again, I wasn’t salty about GOTY awards in 2017, it was clear why BOTW should win even if I personally preferred Nier. It‘s the same with this year and BG 3. I wish people would truly look at what each individual game did and be more understanding of why a game earned its success and not resort to, “well, not enough people played the game I personally preferred!” Personal preferences are fine, but don’t let it cloud your vision on what other studios have managed to accomplish and how they did it.
 
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Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
I’ve yet to hear a good argument on why AC 6 is so special compared to other mech games on why it should win over such a massive amount of people instantly as opposed to slowly building an audience like Souls did.
I guess you never played AC games before, there no other mecha game plays like AC, I feel your only experience with mecha game was only license Gundam games which is not even close to what AC games are, especially when it comes to combat and your mecha customization and through out each AC generation they made lot of changes how your mecha controls and feel.

Also AC6 made lot of refinement and polish to the controls, combat, map design and boss fights.
 
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Guilty_AI

Member
I would say CRPG has much more appeal to western audience compare to mecha games,
They don't. There hasn't been a single crpg in the last few years that got the massive audience this one got. They always remained in the side-lines like every other niche genre. For comparison, one of the most popular CRPGs from the last few years before BG3 was DOS2, its popularity and reported sales weren't much different from AC6 despite some slightly higher player retention.

Larian worked hard to build their audience over the years with their Divinity OS games, its one of the major reasons for this game's success.
even they make Armored Core more "colorfull" and marketing for mass appeal it still wouldn't help because mecha games just never going to appeal to to western audience no matter what they do.
They need to keep building the audience over the years just like they did with souls games. Demon souls, dark souls, those were niche series once too.
 
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Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
They need to keep building the audience over the years just like they did with souls games. Demon souls, dark souls, those were niche series once too.
I feel like mecha never going appeal to western audience, Souls games have advantage of being dark fantasy RPG which has more western appeal compare to hardcore mecha action game like AC.

I'm glad to see AC6 is best selling AC game but when it comes to these western centric awards show, mecha games have zero chance.
 
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Doom85

Member
I guess you never played AC games before, there no other mecha game plays like AC, I feel your experience with mecha game was only license Gundam games which is not even close to what AC games are, especially when it comes to combat and your mecha customization and through out each AC generation they made lot of changes how your mecha controls and feel.

Also AC6 made lot of refinement and polish to the controls, combat, map design and boss fights.

Refinement and polish don’t instantly gain a much larger audience. BOTW and BG 3 did a lot more than refine and polish. Nier Automata as well for that matter.

And no, sorry, I’ve looked at several gameplay videos of AC 6 and it just looks like a very well handled mech game. Again, this is why good marketing is key. Nintendo and Larian handled their marketing for BOTW and BG 3 respectively very well and showcasing why their game was a massive evolution. The biggest noise I heard from AC 6 was the TGA announcement which had nothing but cutscenes and zero gameplay. Now, Elden Ring did the same, but again its franchise had earned a slowly building audience, FROM knew what it was doing with that game. With AC, it felt like they were banking on nostalgia from a fanbase where a game hasn’t been released in a long time. Which, hey, cool, you won them over, but don’t be shocked you didn’t win over a ton of people with cutscene visuals and a title. Especially in 2023 where there has been so many choice games to choose from, if you fail to market the game better, that’s not the gamers’ fault for not jumping in purely on blind faith.

Hopefully this is a learning experience for FROM and they’ll know how to market it better in the future.

Also, there have been Gundam games that offer a ton of customization to your mech. And again, the more interesting and varied visuals are a factor.
 

Guilty_AI

Member
I feel like mecha never going appeal to western audience, Souls games have advantage of being dark fantasy RPG which has more western appeal compare to hardcore mecha action game like AC.

I'm glad to see AC6 is best selling AC game but when it comes to these western centric awards show, mecha games have zero chance.
People were saying the same thing about BG3 before it came out. "its a crpg, it has no wide-audience appeal, it'll be good but it'll remain niche, it'll have zero chance at mainstream awards".

I could argue AC6 may develop a western appeal because it taps into shooter audiences. When i played it i was quite surprised how it often times the gameplay felt like that of old school fps games. Even one of its missions (Investigate BAWS Arsenal No. 2) drew clear inspirations from a famous Halo CE level (direct or indirect).

Point is, its perfectly possible to carve an audience. Many typicaly japanese genres were able to over the years, i see no reason why mech games couldn't.
 
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Doom85

Member
Also, come on, giant robots have no appeal to the west? The first two Michael Bay Transformers movies had a comparable box office in the US to movies like Lord of the Rings. And the Bay movies range from guilty pleasures to trash.
 

Arsic

Loves his juicy stink trail scent
Ah yes MK1 the best MP game. The game with the worst netcode of the recent 5 games. The game with the least online modes and features in the fighting game genre. The worst micro transactions of possibly any game out there right now.

That’s the best MP game.

:/

At least ff16 got some love and sea of stars too.
 

AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
It's the "Game of Several Generations".
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
Refinement and polish don’t instantly gain a much larger audience. BOTW and BG 3 did a lot more than refine and polish. Nier Automata as well for that matter.

And no, sorry, I’ve looked at several gameplay videos of AC 6 and it just looks like a very well handled mech game. Again, this is why good marketing is key. Nintendo and Larian handled their marketing for BOTW and BG 3 respectively very well and showcasing why their game was a massive evolution. The biggest noise I heard from AC 6 was the TGA announcement which had nothing but cutscenes and zero gameplay. Now, Elden Ring did the same, but again its franchise had earned a slowly building audience, FROM knew what it was doing with that game. With AC, it felt like they were banking on nostalgia from a fanbase where a game hasn’t been released in a long time. Which, hey, cool, you won them over, but don’t be shocked you didn’t win over a ton of people with cutscene visuals and a title. Especially in 2023 where there has been so many choice games to choose from, if you fail to market the game better, that’s not the gamers’ fault for not jumping in purely on blind faith.

Hopefully this is a learning experience for FROM and they’ll know how to market it better in the future.

Also, there have been Gundam games that offer a ton of customization to your mech. And again, the more interesting and varied visuals are a factor.
Are you fucking kidding me here? If you think license Gundam games comes to AC game when to combat and customization, you be so wrong. also you keep talking about visual appeal here and yet last time I checked Gundam games are also are not exactly popular in west either, are they?

I bet Armored Core 6 sold more than most Gundam games that have more "visual appeal" as you put it.
Also, come on, giant robots have no appeal to the west? The first two Michael Bay Transformers movies had a comparable box office in the US to movies like Lord of the Rings. And the Bay movies range from guilty pleasures to trash.
Mostly watch not actually play them and put actual effort customizing your mechs.
 
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The full list of Golden Joystick Awards 2023 nominees is as follows:
So the overall list looks pretty decent, though I don't really agree with Assassin's Creed Mirage and especially Lords of the Fallen up there. Of course they ignore Hogwarts Legacy, which is absolutely ridiculous. With 20 games nominated I expect that to be in the top group.
 
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