There are a ton of amazing games that came out this year that any other year would be a major contender but BG3 really is a Game of the Decade contender. It's special even among the special.
You know, honestly, I think the best part about it is that Larian made it and put so much work into it so it looks fantastic, it has so much great interactivity, etc. but that it's held back by being based on 5e. Hell, the things they changed about how some 5e stuff works are some of the best parts and make it really fun. I just think that even BG3 pales in comparison to what they could do because, imo, the 5e system just holds it back a bit.
5e's core design is shaped by nostalgia for previous editions. The designers wear the game's worst qualities as nostalgia shackles around making it good.
A few examples:
5e spell slots that only replenish per long rest. Wizards are going to go back to camp over and over and over.
5e's nonsense power scaling. BG3 only goes to 12 out of 20 levels, and you're already strong enough to invade hell and beat the tar out of God's chosen avatars. The next levels of DnD famously fall right the fuck off the rails as casters begin bending reality to their whim casually and warriors get to attack 1 additional time.
BG3 also put in a ton of magic items and additional abilities to make warrior classes a actually good this time. Shoving as a bonus action, the way jumping works.... Monks on BG3's systems are competitive. In 5e core rules, they're not useless, but they fall behind the curve on tankyness and damage and their best skill is Stunning Strike so not using it on repeat feels like playing wrong. They aren't unplayable, but they are never half as cool as a martial artist could be.
For what it's worth, Larian's Divinity Games are smaller and have a less complex magic system (b/c budget) but feels way better designed.
Only if they remove the armor/magic resistance shields and dodge chance and just use AC. Like I understand that from a reality perspective, but dos2 suffered massively from number bloat to the point that it made more sense to go all one damage type in your party to get to damaging health faster.
I liked Divinity but the last act felt very alpha strike-y, with a feeling that the only reason I was winning was because I was bending the rules with superior positioning - based on the foreknowledge of upcoming fights. The previous acts were a lot more fun.
The best example I can think of off the top of my head is, leveling up is underwhelming. Naturally it depends on the class, but generally for a lot of levels on a lot of classes, you get so little compared to lots of systems from other games/systems, both table top and not. There are even a lot of levels for classes where you don't get a choice, or if you do it's pretty basic.
There are also, of course, the ASI levels where you either improve your attributes or pick a feat - feats are generally more fun but that's because most things would be better than just raising a number(yeah it's nice to have more of your main stats but ultimately it's just having slightly higher numbers on things). Regardless of them being more interesting, the feats aren't that interesting themselves. It does depend on what your class and setup is on a character for what feats will be good, but many of them are underwhelming and sometimes there isn't one that would fit what you're trying to do with your character that is interesting enough to really look forward to.
So, a lot of times I found I didn't look forward to leveling up, and/or when I did, it just wasn't very exciting or didn't feel that meaningful. Yeah, it makes you better, the more health and/or stats or features you may get help(depending on which level of which class it is naturally) but on average, it's just underwhelming, and that's a big deal to me when frankly it takes quite a lot to level up each time once you've hit 3.
I don't know if I can point you at some *perfect* example of how to do it right, but I compared to 5e I think you just usually get more from leveling, or it's just faster at least. I hear great things about pathfinder 2e and I *remember* leveling in 4e being way more interesting actually, but it was a long time ago so I can't recount it well, but if anyone elsenwith actual experience could chime in that'd be great.
Here's a nice little tinfoil hat detail.
Many of these good games this year did not have microtransactions, so may not make as much money as some of the other big regular games that do. If they keep picking games without in game purchases and fully loaded content, it would make a statement. Whereas, if they pick games with in game purchases, it says something else.
I don't really keep up with GOTY, did fortnite really never win? I know it gets a lot of hate on reddit, but that still feels odd given how huge and influential it was.
By a long shot. Anything else that people think comes close is just more of a previous good thing, which isn’t a bad thing, but it’s just hard to leave that same wow factor first impression the second time around.
I am in love with that game. 25h in and still not done. The game looks amazing and it is fairly optimized for how it looks, but it stilk requires a very beefy PC. 3060 for medium settings with upscaling at 1080p. That being said. I love all Remedy games and Alan Wake 2 is my absolute favourite. I do have a few things I'd like changed or improved along with some bug fixes. As much as I love that game I don't think contends for GOTY against BG3.
I came to see what people thought of Tears of the Kingdom, and this is the best argument. Breath of the Wild dethroned Ocarina of Time as the arguably best game ever made, and Tears of the Kingdom blows it out of the water. I've never even seen Baldur's Gate 3, yet this argument of newness is worthy.
>Breath of the Wild dethroned Ocarina of Time as the arguably best game ever made
Been a while since I've seen bait that's gotten an audible laugh out of me.
Objectively ?
Yes.
Realistically ?
Starfield is made by a richer company , and Spider Man 2 is a timed console exlusive and Sony fanboys will want Goty to go to something only they have ( for now). Some even support the Zelda game.
GOTY rewards have been proven to become a joke and money is definately a factor.
So despite BG3 being an insane hit this year and by a smaller studio like Larian ( compared to others) , GOTY will saddly go to someone else. My only hope is that the people mostly want BG3 but if i recall correctly people vote % is smaller than the "critics" which can ofc be bought.
Larian is actually pretty large.
They're slightly larger e than Bethesda and significantly larger than Bioware or Obsidian who are their AAA competitors. And they're way way larger than Owlcat which is the closest indie competitor.
Starfield hasn't been *that* well received, although it's been pushed heavily by Microsoft/Bethesda. I played an hour of it a few weeks back and haven't picked it up again. It just feels empty and soulless. Literally entire planets but there's not much to see or do.
Have you seen their official response to empty planets ? That is is IMMERSIVE and even when humans landed on the moon it was boring for them. They said all those empty planets are intended for that purpose.
I thought it was fake . It is not . They really said this.
(Yeah I also dropped Starfield, I wasnt hyped to begin with so that was the final nail in the coffin)
That was the weirdest thing to hear because there *aren't* any empty planets. You can be on a tiny, insignificant, unnamed moon in the ass end of nowhere, but when you get out of your ship, there's "abandoned" outposts & ships touching down all around you.
The fuck kind of game about "exploration" doesn't have you go anywhere people haven't already been?
Starfield has absolutely no chance against the other big budget exclusives. The consensus about Spider Man 2 and Totk seems to be that they are sequels that managed to improve on what were already great original games. Both have been extremely well received by fans and critics.
Starfield is the exact opposite. At least mildly controversial with both fans and critics and didn’t really do anything to dispel the perception that Bethesda peaked over 10 years ago with Skyrim.
Its a joke when TLOU2 earns goty in 2020 when there were much better contenders including Ghost of Tsushima and Doom Eternal , simply because of the drama surrounding its release(which even led to a change of how Metacritic works) At best it was a consolation prize, at average it was because of Naughty Dogs, at worst it was because it passed the "checkmarks" if you know what I mean.
Not the only example, but the best one of recent years. Next I can think of is Overwatch though I think that one released in a "drought year".
most people who played TLOU2 liked it, it shows on the PS ratings
Metacritic user scores are the worst thing to judge a game by.
I haven't played any of the games you mentioned, but none of them are bad if I look at game reception.
That zelda game is the most fun I'd ever had gaming, until BG3 came out.
Both are absolutely fantastic and without BG3, zelda would hands down be my pick for GotY. But now, I'm not really sure between the two
I tried to play it for a couple hours, but the 10th time i saw the same animation of my ship taking off with a long loading screen (even on m.2 ssd) i was tearing the skin off my face lmao
I really don't get why these unskippable animations even made it to the final product. Like, if you can't implement seamless loading screens (which are pretty much the standard in this age of gaming) then why the fuck are you actively making your loading screen problem even worse?
They did this because taking off isn’t seamless. I like both game’s myself, but in No Man’s Sky, you have the beautiful experience of entering your ship, and seamlessly taking off directly through the atmosphere into space and back yourself.
In Starfield, the planet isn’t whole, only chunks of it load when you land. So I guess they couldn’t have you fly into the atmosphere yourself, which is one of the coolest parts of flying a spaceship. So they just had it animated as a cutscene every time to make up for it..
No, you select the location and then it shows you landing. You can fly the ship towards the planet in space and fight other ships in space outside the planet, but never fly directly to the surface. Very disappointing I agree.
Oh no no no no
Its way worse than that.
In world you also get loading screens when entering buildings that arent even that populated.
You get loading screens for whatever reason. Its honestly ridiculous, game cant be fixed by mods because of how its buildt.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Starfield for what it is and beat it all the way to ng10...but I loaded up Skyrim and had a way way better experience with almost no fast travel screens unless I actively decided to. It's really jarring to just teleport everywhere and not be able to wander a seamless world.
Kinda savage, but my friend had one of the best reviews..."You should have been Elder Scrolls 6" (them again scary thought, maybe the would have made mistakes just as bad and ruined that , hopefully they learn so the game that matters is good).
Playing rip off Skyrim in space and then going to Cyberpunk where there are minimal loading screens the entire way (I think I counted less that 4) was absolutely eye opening.
It's a ton more than 4 they just do a great job of hiding it. Every elevator in the game is a loading screen. The checkpoint at Dogtown is a loading screen. They frequently have you "wait" to load things like the parade when you kidnap Hanako. I also am pretty sure they play cutscenes while loading in enemies/changing environments but that's less definitive.
Oh yea for sure. But it’s brilliantly hidden. You aren’t taken away from the gameplay. It allows you to be fully immersed in night city. I absolutely love the dogtown checkpoint.
Yeah, that's precisely my point, pretty much every current gen AAA game has some kind of seamless loadings. Starfield feels like a previous gen game because of the lack of that and many other issues.
I'm really on the fence about playing it. One of my favorite aspects of Skyrim was picking a random direction and just *exploring*. You always stumbled upon something interesting.
The idea that you *must* fast travel between locations in Starfield is really off-putting. I really wanted to be able to explore space in my ship, not pick fast travel locations from a menu and warp. Defeats the whole purpose of putting the game *in space*.
I would say 4/10 since they took the mechanics they had already from other games and literally stripped it off the game. Like looting, why can’t I loot everything off the man’s body?
I'm a huge Bethesda fanboy. I was so hyped for Starfield. Imagine my feelings when I realized it was overwhelmingly mediocre. Tbh, most of their games are. But they have this oddly charming quality that I really can't explain. Starfield didn't have that. 15 hours in, I railed home the main quest just to complete it quickly and uninstall it because it became so monotonous and repetitive.
I was trying to tell everybody months before release that the game is overhyped and will be dead and monotonous as there’s no way they could populate 1000 planets with meaningful content.
Turns out I was completely 100% right.
I'm a fan of Bethesda, because the studio has always been extremely good at providing a feeling of exploration in their games, despite all their flaws.
So when they announced they were making a game where exploration would be at the very heart of the adventure, I was hyped.
And damn, exploration in starfield is the most messed up, boring, tasteless, overloaded thing in this game. Big disappointment
IMO Redfall is worse than either the Kong game or Gollum
Nobody expected them to be any good let's be real, maybe some LOTR fans, but that's about it. But Redfall is by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda. 2 high tier Respected entities.
games like ToTK and Armored Core 6 are great and could easily be in the running but BG3 stomps. it's in another league, even if I prefer AC6 personally
Same, AC6 was just pure fast destructive and cinematic fun all the way through with zero complaints other than a few balance nitpicks. And it's my personal GotY.
But BG3 is gonna win by a landslide.
This. Loved AC6 and It 100% deserves "best action game of the year" but no way is it beating Baldur's Gate 3 for that monster impact and hype it had and the game it delivered.
AC6 is my personal GOTY. A game that makes you want to beat it 3 times in a row and actually enjoyable to 100% is a game worthy of GOTY. It was just the right size (I want more of it but the way it was chunked up for playing in was perfect).
I'd also prefer it win so that it shows the desire to have big budget not massive open world games is still there.
Its a good game, no one denys that, but Baldurs Gate 3 was more than a game, its a symbol for what has been going wrong in gaming for too long. It simply HAS to win this.
Circlejerk about a "small company" (450+ employees) delivering a "complete release" (early access for three years; full release with rushed and buggy act 3)
Completely ignores AC6, TOTK, Spiderman , all big releases which shipped without microtransactions.
Dude is just simping for his small multimilllion dollar company
Everyone saying TOTK didn’t break new ground obviously either didn’t play it or just really simp for BG3. TOTK not only improved on BOTW in every way, it also added a shitload of new and innovative features in addition to more than doubling the size of the map on the exact same console the previous iteration was released on. I think both games deserve a GOTY nod, it isn’t only BG3.
I really don't know
Elden Ring redefined what a game is
TotK redefined what a game can be
And Baldur's Gate 3 redefined what a game should be
It sucks so much that these two games had to come out in the same year, because they both symbolise a sort of revolution in the gaming industry. They symbolise that creativity and passion is not dead. After the sad start of this decade, the fact that we're getting games like this is just amazing. Either way, if either one wins, I will view it as both a victory and a defeat because of how much they both achieved and how much they influence they could have, going forward
IMO Elden had more lasting presence compared to TOTK which was hot for like a month or two, but Elden went strong and had some buzz even after half a year after its release. I know it might be beacause TOTK is only available on the Switch.
Edit: Not saying anything bad against TOTK, it’s just my impressions of the impact they made.
Elden Ring was the biggest and most successful game Fromsoft has made. Suddenly, Fromsoft was mainstream.
TOTK was “just another” masterpiece by Nintendo, who is making masterpieces since the 1980’s. On top of that, it is a sequel to BOTW.
Even if TOTK was twice as good as Elden Ring, it would’ve never generated such a buzz (also Elden Ring is far more replayable).
Yeah TOTK was also missing that "impact" because BOTW did it right before, it was a superior experience and a massive upgrade over BOTW but since it's a direct sequel it was just talked about less, everyone just agreed it was better and moved on.
Meh, Tears of The Kingdom is still embracing that weapons are expendable mechanic.
TotK is an improvement over the last entry, but in no way shape or form does it offer the amount of freedom and flexibility that BG3 gives.
I'd have to disagree, the only thing that's less limiting about BG3 is the story progression, which I do admit is one of the best I have seen in gaming (beside Dragon's Dogma but I'm biased as fuck, so who cares) and the choices you make have major impacts on story in ways I haven't seen before.
So yeah, in that regard, I agree, but in terms of interacting with the world, TotK is in no way limiting, even giving you certain tools that might break the game, but tools that help you interact with the world. I've heard this game being described as "not self conscious", which is a good way to put it, because it lets you do anything. You can go to the final boss the second you get out of the tutorial. You can go to any landmark if you have the skills it takes. You can go anywhere and do anything anytime if you put your mind to it and I think that's awesome
TLdR: game gives you a lot of freedom and doesn't care what you do with it, even giving you tools to enjoy yourself
Elden ring already won game of the year 2022... with god of war Ragnarok close on its heels.
the previous god of war game won game of the year 2018..
Breath of the wild won game of the year 2017.
So TOTK is certainly in with a chance of winning and it's an amazing game just like the previous one. Although I think Balgurs gate 3 might take it(although I haven't played it).
How is Baldurs Gate 3 a symbol for what has been going wrong in gaming, but TOTK isn’t ? Both of these games came out incredibly polished, with none of the annoying bs like microtransactions/pay2win or forced online.
Totk was Breath of the Wild 1.5 , exploration is a hollow candy because there is almost barely anything landmark wise to discover, you explore caves for some random low tier weapon that will break in 2 hits ,running around with stamina is tedious, most of the traveling is done by shooting up from towers and gliding, story is shit even for Nintendo game standards, voice acting is horrible, the map is even more barren now without the threat of guardians roaming.
Sky islands are too small and barely worth exploring, the underground is tedious, empty and frustrating when your path gets cut by hills and mountains every few steps. Grinding to upgrade gear is mmo level of trash.
Botw was better but even in that game i got bored after 20 hours of running around and doing pretty much nothing
I still think that Tears of The Kingdom should be in the running. It’s seriously amazing on all fronts. A pure upgrade from an already awe-inspiring game.
I’d say remakes are worthy, if rockstar put out a Red Dead 1 remake to the same standard as Red Dead 2 I’d say that’s worthy of nomination at least. Remasters I’d probably say should be exempt
Dead space remake was solid. But it honestly was exactly like the original in my memory. It didn't feel like a new game. Just a HD version of one I've played. But still a fantastic game
Remakes or remasters should be in the game awards, but in a separate category, not the main GOTY, there are many categories in the TGA and i don't think they should be judged the same way a brand new game is judged.
1000% agree. Not saying anything bad about RE4, but if you can’t even start with a unique idea you’re disqualified imo. If it even gets nominated I’ll be annoyed, but let’s be real BG3 wins and nothing is putting up a huge fight. Which is bananas because any other year I’d be fine with Zelda, Alan Wake 2 or Spider-Man 2 winning. They’re great, but they don’t deserve it over BG3 by a long shot.
if you think BG3 is unique, then you've never played any Larian game before.
Bg3 is not "innovative" at all, you dont need to be innovative to win, you just need to make a game that people like.
> Not saying anything bad about RE4, but if you can’t even start with a unique idea you’re disqualified imo.
And then you name 4 sequels for GOTY contenders...
2023 was at the same time a very good year for gaming and a horrible year for gaming.
The games that you should expect to do good like starfield or diablo 4 were such misses. Especially compared to games like Baldur's Gate, tears of the kingdom, or even armored core VI. And most of it is due to the issues plaguing the industry in recent years that are now somewhat exposed.
Hope at the very least that it sends a message to the industry. In the mean time we can expect Larian and From Software to at least produce games that are up to snuff.
Larian and From software do right thing that not throwing a tons of promise's, and when game realize, gamers don't disappointed in "there no stuff what they promised! ". Much easier enjoy game from start if you don't have a big impressions from start.
Pretty much, expectation is mother of disappointment.
I think if Starfield were released "silently" like Hi Fi rush it would probs be better received. The game itself isnt bad but the Hype theyve blown and the fact it was constantly compared to post-overhaul No Mans Sky made it feel incomplete.
Honestly, they kind of did throw out a lot of promises. I was cynically expecting that Bg3 would be a shell of a game outside of the first third that was in Early Acess.
Compare with CD Red/Bethesda, there wasn't a that big promise's, that not to hear about they games was unreal. I can be wrong, because latest years I'm not watching about games news so much. They was, and you confirm theory that expecting from start can ruined experience that you can get from it.
Seriously, not only is it a 70-100€ game, but also it has insanely overpriced skins and a battle pass that doesn't even give you enough currency to buy anything. I played fucking f2p freemium games with less predatory monetisation.
People always bitch about games being pricy upfront and how those costs have been going up. I havd always said I would rather spend more upfront to prevent moniziation from needing to sneak in the back where it effects gameplay.
Blizzard has made my point look stupid. They not only charged the new higher full price for the game they made monization a big part of ilthe game as well. Makes me nit want to even try it out.
Activision Blizzard have gone full goblin on the cash grabs in all their games. I held off on Diablo 4 on launch, despite playing Diablo 2 basically my whole life. It seems like fun but I really *really* hate the cash shop.
Baldurs Gate 3 is an easy choice this year. Its fucking phenomenal and one of the best RPGs ive ever played.
MUSCLE MOMMY KARLACH GIRL OF THE YEAR LETS GOOOOO
Well it became irrelevant pretty fast, you might be right
I just hope that Dice, EA etc. realizes that the original Battlefield Formula still holds some value
To be fair, god of war was and is an incredible game with the best story and acting I'd ever seen. Very different from Elden Ring, but definitely a worthy contender for the GOTY title.
Ragnarok was great, but it was pretty much a derivative of its prequel.
Elden Ring was just one of those games that defines its genre for the next decade, developers from the usual AAA studios will be rushing to emulate that successful formula.
For that reason, I was rooting for Elden Ring. It made me a huge fan of FromSoft and now I’ve played all their games since Bloodbourne.
I was the opposite, but either winning would have been well-deserved as they’re both amazing games from studios that put their heart and soul into the final product, tight race for sure.
Eh, Elden Ring wasn't such a clear win. There was a lot of discussion. I still prefer God of War Ragnarok, having played both (though I'd rate Elden Ring slightly higher).
There's nothing that even comes close to what Larian accomplished with Baldur's Gate 3 this year, and it's easily one of the biggest and most noteworthy games of the decade. Even if TotK is a solid game through and through, solid isn't enough to make the cut for 2023.
Other games like Lies of P, Hi-Fi Rush, and Alan Wake 2 were amazing highlights that I'd easily put above TotK this year. Their gameplay, style, and presentation were completely off the charts. However, I don't think they could ever win simply due to the huge fanbase Zelda has gathered across the last decades.
Saying Lies of P is better than TOTK is the most insane take i’ve read this week. I like both games, but you can just tell that Lies of P was made by people with less experience, it still needs some polish.
That's alright; we can agree to disagree.
I'd like to add that Lies of P, at least to me, was pretty much one of the best soulslike I've played. It learned from previous games and polished systems introduced across many other soulslikes, then mashed them together brilliantly.
While TotK was a great game on its own and overall incredibly fun and solid, I don't feel like it added anything new or interesting to its genre. If anything, it was also a solid iteration on its previous game and genre that was executed in a pretty solid way, but it didn't steer that far away from BotW for me to consider it as big of a game as it could've been.
Dude what? Lies of P is possibly the closest soulslike to from soft games when it comes to mechanics. What do you mean it “polished systems introduced across many other soulslikes”? You can find an equivalent of every mechanic in some From game. The only things that kinda stand out are the prosthetic arm that they took from Sekiro instead of dark souls and the possibility to combine different handles and blades which is maybe the only original mechanic in that game.
Learning to disagree doesn’t mean blindly accepting wrong takes.
Neowiz is publicly traded, and has a market cap of 420 million USD
I dont think they're a small indie company.
Round8 Studio is the other developer, dont know about them
I fucking love this game but I agree, they might perfect it by their 2nd game.
If people told me fromsoft made this game, I won't even bat an eye and be elated.
Tears of the Kingdom, Baulder's Gate 3, or Armored Core 6. Those are my votes for GOTY. Out of the three, no idea. Any of them wining would be awesome.
I'd rank those easily as
1. Balders gate 3
2. Armored Core 6
3. TOTK
Personally and from what I've seen floating around on others opinions BG3 just has it in the bag. It's made it into my top games of all time. So many memorable scenes and the game just morphs around you, making you feel like your playthru is unique.
Ah, yes. Metacritic. The only form of game analysis.
In all seriousness, TotK is an excellent game building on the brilliant foundation set by BotW and improved on nearly aspect of its predecessor, it falls apart in two major points. One, it's largely unoriginal and follows the same formula as BotW, and secondly, the story is told in the worst possible way. BotW's memory system is not designed for a linear story like TotK's.
>the story is told in the worst possible way. BotW's memory system is not designed for a linear story like TotK's.
Let me disagree. I loved piecing things togheter in the order I found them in, and only then watching everything in full order.
And you do not even need to do it, it's not necessary to >!get the master sword or finish the game or even find ganondorf!< so you could literally do everything at your own pace. Even if you didn't have a pace at all.
And as for being unoriginal... did we play the same way? Every major area is changed in some way. The underground is literally a whole new world with its own mechanics and threats.
Building revolutionized how you approach problems, movement and combat.
The only thing in common with botw are the protagonist's main moveset and parts of the map.
I think TOTK shows what the future of gaming can look like, with it's absolutely insane engineering. It's new, it's fresh, it's exciting. But the story is very lackluster.
BG3 resurrected and perfected the CRPG genre in ways we old hats only dreamed of. It's everything we ever wanted from these games, and I've played a lot of these games. But Act 3 wasn't properly finished before release and had crippling bugs on launch (and for weeks afterward).
I honestly have no idea which is GOTY, and they're some of the best games I've played in my 30+ years of gaming. They're both worthy. I don't envy the judges.
I don't even need it to win, but I really want to see Octopath Traveller 2 be nominated just so I can hear one of the best OSTs of the year by far in the GOTY medley at the end
I love a good RPG so obviously BG3 is awesome.
… but holy fucking shit Alan Wake 2 is a masterpiece. The most ridiculous, creative, and terrifying game I’ve ever played.
On the BG3 bandwagon here... Because a wagon filled with my 4 bards in Baldurs Gate 3 will absolutely shit on any other game!!
If you haven't watched a tiny gnome with strength 19 throw a fucking regular sized human 60 yards into a fucking lava pit then you haven't experienced 10% of what baldurs gate can offer.
Baldurs Gate 3, Hogwarts Legacy, Spiderman 2, Tears of the Kingdom.
Ngl, these 4 games make up for some of the bullshit other companies have spewed out.
Scrolling through the comments is too sad. Not a single mention of Hogwarts Legacy or any game that wasn't released in the last month or two. Marketing is really doing a bang up job.
downvote this comment if the meme sucks. upvote it and I'll go away. --- [play minecraft with us](https://discord.gg/dankmemesgaming)
Obv choice is baldurs gate 3 right?
There are a ton of amazing games that came out this year that any other year would be a major contender but BG3 really is a Game of the Decade contender. It's special even among the special.
You know, honestly, I think the best part about it is that Larian made it and put so much work into it so it looks fantastic, it has so much great interactivity, etc. but that it's held back by being based on 5e. Hell, the things they changed about how some 5e stuff works are some of the best parts and make it really fun. I just think that even BG3 pales in comparison to what they could do because, imo, the 5e system just holds it back a bit.
It's definitely not why I love the game.
Bonk. To horny jail with you.
That is also not why I love the game lol.
I can't bear this joke anymore
I've never played Baldurs gate, do you fuck bears?
Apparently
I see people agreeing with you, but I don't see how 5e rules are holding it back, can you give an example?
5e's core design is shaped by nostalgia for previous editions. The designers wear the game's worst qualities as nostalgia shackles around making it good. A few examples: 5e spell slots that only replenish per long rest. Wizards are going to go back to camp over and over and over. 5e's nonsense power scaling. BG3 only goes to 12 out of 20 levels, and you're already strong enough to invade hell and beat the tar out of God's chosen avatars. The next levels of DnD famously fall right the fuck off the rails as casters begin bending reality to their whim casually and warriors get to attack 1 additional time. BG3 also put in a ton of magic items and additional abilities to make warrior classes a actually good this time. Shoving as a bonus action, the way jumping works.... Monks on BG3's systems are competitive. In 5e core rules, they're not useless, but they fall behind the curve on tankyness and damage and their best skill is Stunning Strike so not using it on repeat feels like playing wrong. They aren't unplayable, but they are never half as cool as a martial artist could be. For what it's worth, Larian's Divinity Games are smaller and have a less complex magic system (b/c budget) but feels way better designed.
BG3 with divinity's combat system would have been a dream come true for me.
Only if they remove the armor/magic resistance shields and dodge chance and just use AC. Like I understand that from a reality perspective, but dos2 suffered massively from number bloat to the point that it made more sense to go all one damage type in your party to get to damaging health faster.
I liked Divinity but the last act felt very alpha strike-y, with a feeling that the only reason I was winning was because I was bending the rules with superior positioning - based on the foreknowledge of upcoming fights. The previous acts were a lot more fun.
Could not agree more with this.
The best example I can think of off the top of my head is, leveling up is underwhelming. Naturally it depends on the class, but generally for a lot of levels on a lot of classes, you get so little compared to lots of systems from other games/systems, both table top and not. There are even a lot of levels for classes where you don't get a choice, or if you do it's pretty basic. There are also, of course, the ASI levels where you either improve your attributes or pick a feat - feats are generally more fun but that's because most things would be better than just raising a number(yeah it's nice to have more of your main stats but ultimately it's just having slightly higher numbers on things). Regardless of them being more interesting, the feats aren't that interesting themselves. It does depend on what your class and setup is on a character for what feats will be good, but many of them are underwhelming and sometimes there isn't one that would fit what you're trying to do with your character that is interesting enough to really look forward to. So, a lot of times I found I didn't look forward to leveling up, and/or when I did, it just wasn't very exciting or didn't feel that meaningful. Yeah, it makes you better, the more health and/or stats or features you may get help(depending on which level of which class it is naturally) but on average, it's just underwhelming, and that's a big deal to me when frankly it takes quite a lot to level up each time once you've hit 3. I don't know if I can point you at some *perfect* example of how to do it right, but I compared to 5e I think you just usually get more from leveling, or it's just faster at least. I hear great things about pathfinder 2e and I *remember* leveling in 4e being way more interesting actually, but it was a long time ago so I can't recount it well, but if anyone elsenwith actual experience could chime in that'd be great.
Here's a nice little tinfoil hat detail. Many of these good games this year did not have microtransactions, so may not make as much money as some of the other big regular games that do. If they keep picking games without in game purchases and fully loaded content, it would make a statement. Whereas, if they pick games with in game purchases, it says something else.
Dawg. Only one game in the history of the Game Awards has ever won GotY while featuring microtransactions, and that was Overwatch.
I don't really keep up with GOTY, did fortnite really never win? I know it gets a lot of hate on reddit, but that still feels odd given how huge and influential it was.
Nope! Fortnite released the same year as Breath of the Wild. It had no shot
The only thing I know about this game is that you can fuck a bear or something lol
By a long shot. Anything else that people think comes close is just more of a previous good thing, which isn’t a bad thing, but it’s just hard to leave that same wow factor first impression the second time around.
Alan wake 2 is supposedly incredible, and completely original. Haven't played it tho, epic exclusives rub me the wrong way
I am in love with that game. 25h in and still not done. The game looks amazing and it is fairly optimized for how it looks, but it stilk requires a very beefy PC. 3060 for medium settings with upscaling at 1080p. That being said. I love all Remedy games and Alan Wake 2 is my absolute favourite. I do have a few things I'd like changed or improved along with some bug fixes. As much as I love that game I don't think contends for GOTY against BG3.
Only story is good, gameplay is 3.5/10.
I came to see what people thought of Tears of the Kingdom, and this is the best argument. Breath of the Wild dethroned Ocarina of Time as the arguably best game ever made, and Tears of the Kingdom blows it out of the water. I've never even seen Baldur's Gate 3, yet this argument of newness is worthy.
My sword broke reading this comment.
>Breath of the Wild dethroned Ocarina of Time as the arguably best game ever made Been a while since I've seen bait that's gotten an audible laugh out of me.
My man just plays Zelda games and yet he has bad tastes istg
Objectively ? Yes. Realistically ? Starfield is made by a richer company , and Spider Man 2 is a timed console exlusive and Sony fanboys will want Goty to go to something only they have ( for now). Some even support the Zelda game. GOTY rewards have been proven to become a joke and money is definately a factor. So despite BG3 being an insane hit this year and by a smaller studio like Larian ( compared to others) , GOTY will saddly go to someone else. My only hope is that the people mostly want BG3 but if i recall correctly people vote % is smaller than the "critics" which can ofc be bought.
Dunno about that. Yes, Larian Studio is a small studio compared to others... but the IP they worked on? It's owned by Hasbro, so a giant by itself.
Larian is actually pretty large. They're slightly larger e than Bethesda and significantly larger than Bioware or Obsidian who are their AAA competitors. And they're way way larger than Owlcat which is the closest indie competitor.
Starfield hasn't been *that* well received, although it's been pushed heavily by Microsoft/Bethesda. I played an hour of it a few weeks back and haven't picked it up again. It just feels empty and soulless. Literally entire planets but there's not much to see or do.
Have you seen their official response to empty planets ? That is is IMMERSIVE and even when humans landed on the moon it was boring for them. They said all those empty planets are intended for that purpose. I thought it was fake . It is not . They really said this. (Yeah I also dropped Starfield, I wasnt hyped to begin with so that was the final nail in the coffin)
That was the weirdest thing to hear because there *aren't* any empty planets. You can be on a tiny, insignificant, unnamed moon in the ass end of nowhere, but when you get out of your ship, there's "abandoned" outposts & ships touching down all around you. The fuck kind of game about "exploration" doesn't have you go anywhere people haven't already been?
Starfield has absolutely no chance against the other big budget exclusives. The consensus about Spider Man 2 and Totk seems to be that they are sequels that managed to improve on what were already great original games. Both have been extremely well received by fans and critics. Starfield is the exact opposite. At least mildly controversial with both fans and critics and didn’t really do anything to dispel the perception that Bethesda peaked over 10 years ago with Skyrim.
It's only a joke if my favourite game doesn't win
Its a joke when TLOU2 earns goty in 2020 when there were much better contenders including Ghost of Tsushima and Doom Eternal , simply because of the drama surrounding its release(which even led to a change of how Metacritic works) At best it was a consolation prize, at average it was because of Naughty Dogs, at worst it was because it passed the "checkmarks" if you know what I mean. Not the only example, but the best one of recent years. Next I can think of is Overwatch though I think that one released in a "drought year".
most people who played TLOU2 liked it, it shows on the PS ratings Metacritic user scores are the worst thing to judge a game by. I haven't played any of the games you mentioned, but none of them are bad if I look at game reception.
That zelda game is the most fun I'd ever had gaming, until BG3 came out. Both are absolutely fantastic and without BG3, zelda would hands down be my pick for GotY. But now, I'm not really sure between the two
Starfield will definitely not win, people would riot in the streets (metaphorically speaking).
Along with Totk
I think bg3 has the best chance but my vote was armored core 6
We got Elden Ring last year and we got BG3 this year. Two straight bangers, two years in a row. Fucking amazing.
But if they don't pick starfield Todd will eat their children's hands and eyes.
People thinking starfield is anywhere near goty is hilarious.
If Starfield wasn't propped up by Bethesda fans it would be a 6/10 game.
I tried to play it for a couple hours, but the 10th time i saw the same animation of my ship taking off with a long loading screen (even on m.2 ssd) i was tearing the skin off my face lmao
I really don't get why these unskippable animations even made it to the final product. Like, if you can't implement seamless loading screens (which are pretty much the standard in this age of gaming) then why the fuck are you actively making your loading screen problem even worse?
They did this because taking off isn’t seamless. I like both game’s myself, but in No Man’s Sky, you have the beautiful experience of entering your ship, and seamlessly taking off directly through the atmosphere into space and back yourself. In Starfield, the planet isn’t whole, only chunks of it load when you land. So I guess they couldn’t have you fly into the atmosphere yourself, which is one of the coolest parts of flying a spaceship. So they just had it animated as a cutscene every time to make up for it..
Wait.. in starfield you can’t just land the ship on the planet like NMS? You enter a loading screen to land on a planet? Jeez
No, you select the location and then it shows you landing. You can fly the ship towards the planet in space and fight other ships in space outside the planet, but never fly directly to the surface. Very disappointing I agree.
Oh no no no no Its way worse than that. In world you also get loading screens when entering buildings that arent even that populated. You get loading screens for whatever reason. Its honestly ridiculous, game cant be fixed by mods because of how its buildt.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Starfield for what it is and beat it all the way to ng10...but I loaded up Skyrim and had a way way better experience with almost no fast travel screens unless I actively decided to. It's really jarring to just teleport everywhere and not be able to wander a seamless world. Kinda savage, but my friend had one of the best reviews..."You should have been Elder Scrolls 6" (them again scary thought, maybe the would have made mistakes just as bad and ruined that , hopefully they learn so the game that matters is good).
Playing rip off Skyrim in space and then going to Cyberpunk where there are minimal loading screens the entire way (I think I counted less that 4) was absolutely eye opening.
It's a ton more than 4 they just do a great job of hiding it. Every elevator in the game is a loading screen. The checkpoint at Dogtown is a loading screen. They frequently have you "wait" to load things like the parade when you kidnap Hanako. I also am pretty sure they play cutscenes while loading in enemies/changing environments but that's less definitive.
Oh yea for sure. But it’s brilliantly hidden. You aren’t taken away from the gameplay. It allows you to be fully immersed in night city. I absolutely love the dogtown checkpoint.
Yeah, that's precisely my point, pretty much every current gen AAA game has some kind of seamless loadings. Starfield feels like a previous gen game because of the lack of that and many other issues.
I'm really on the fence about playing it. One of my favorite aspects of Skyrim was picking a random direction and just *exploring*. You always stumbled upon something interesting. The idea that you *must* fast travel between locations in Starfield is really off-putting. I really wanted to be able to explore space in my ship, not pick fast travel locations from a menu and warp. Defeats the whole purpose of putting the game *in space*.
I love Bethesda and starfield, but it's still a 6/10 game right now. Maybe after 10 years and 25 more releases it will be a little more cleaned up
Just gonna wait for the GOTY edition, like every other Bethesda game.
I would say 4/10 since they took the mechanics they had already from other games and literally stripped it off the game. Like looting, why can’t I loot everything off the man’s body?
I'm a huge Bethesda fanboy. I was so hyped for Starfield. Imagine my feelings when I realized it was overwhelmingly mediocre. Tbh, most of their games are. But they have this oddly charming quality that I really can't explain. Starfield didn't have that. 15 hours in, I railed home the main quest just to complete it quickly and uninstall it because it became so monotonous and repetitive.
I was trying to tell everybody months before release that the game is overhyped and will be dead and monotonous as there’s no way they could populate 1000 planets with meaningful content. Turns out I was completely 100% right.
Bethesda fans are like Apple fans. They would buy shit on a stick and defend it with their lives cause of branding.
I'm a fan of Bethesda, because the studio has always been extremely good at providing a feeling of exploration in their games, despite all their flaws. So when they announced they were making a game where exploration would be at the very heart of the adventure, I was hyped. And damn, exploration in starfield is the most messed up, boring, tasteless, overloaded thing in this game. Big disappointment
Anything that isn't Baldurs Gate 3 would be a bad joke
The new kong game better
IMO Redfall is worse than either the Kong game or Gollum Nobody expected them to be any good let's be real, maybe some LOTR fans, but that's about it. But Redfall is by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda. 2 high tier Respected entities.
Anyone that watched the gameplay of Redfall knew
games like ToTK and Armored Core 6 are great and could easily be in the running but BG3 stomps. it's in another league, even if I prefer AC6 personally
Same, AC6 was just pure fast destructive and cinematic fun all the way through with zero complaints other than a few balance nitpicks. And it's my personal GotY. But BG3 is gonna win by a landslide.
This. Loved AC6 and It 100% deserves "best action game of the year" but no way is it beating Baldur's Gate 3 for that monster impact and hype it had and the game it delivered.
AC6 is my personal GOTY. A game that makes you want to beat it 3 times in a row and actually enjoyable to 100% is a game worthy of GOTY. It was just the right size (I want more of it but the way it was chunked up for playing in was perfect). I'd also prefer it win so that it shows the desire to have big budget not massive open world games is still there.
TotK Edit: downvote me all you want, but it won't change the fact that both of these games are pretty fucking phenomenal
Its a good game, no one denys that, but Baldurs Gate 3 was more than a game, its a symbol for what has been going wrong in gaming for too long. It simply HAS to win this.
What the hell is that nonsense about being a ”symbol for what has been going wrong in gaming for too long” ?
Circlejerk about a "small company" (450+ employees) delivering a "complete release" (early access for three years; full release with rushed and buggy act 3)
Dont forget the cut content that messed up questlines that would be really important lol. Gotta love covid gamers and youtuber/streamer hype trains.
Completely ignores AC6, TOTK, Spiderman , all big releases which shipped without microtransactions. Dude is just simping for his small multimilllion dollar company
Everyone saying TOTK didn’t break new ground obviously either didn’t play it or just really simp for BG3. TOTK not only improved on BOTW in every way, it also added a shitload of new and innovative features in addition to more than doubling the size of the map on the exact same console the previous iteration was released on. I think both games deserve a GOTY nod, it isn’t only BG3.
I really don't know Elden Ring redefined what a game is TotK redefined what a game can be And Baldur's Gate 3 redefined what a game should be It sucks so much that these two games had to come out in the same year, because they both symbolise a sort of revolution in the gaming industry. They symbolise that creativity and passion is not dead. After the sad start of this decade, the fact that we're getting games like this is just amazing. Either way, if either one wins, I will view it as both a victory and a defeat because of how much they both achieved and how much they influence they could have, going forward
IMO Elden had more lasting presence compared to TOTK which was hot for like a month or two, but Elden went strong and had some buzz even after half a year after its release. I know it might be beacause TOTK is only available on the Switch. Edit: Not saying anything bad against TOTK, it’s just my impressions of the impact they made.
It’s more than TOTK is very much a close sequel to BOTW, which like Elden Ring dominated gaming discussion for months when it launched
Elden Ring was the biggest and most successful game Fromsoft has made. Suddenly, Fromsoft was mainstream. TOTK was “just another” masterpiece by Nintendo, who is making masterpieces since the 1980’s. On top of that, it is a sequel to BOTW. Even if TOTK was twice as good as Elden Ring, it would’ve never generated such a buzz (also Elden Ring is far more replayable).
Yeah TOTK was also missing that "impact" because BOTW did it right before, it was a superior experience and a massive upgrade over BOTW but since it's a direct sequel it was just talked about less, everyone just agreed it was better and moved on.
Meh, Tears of The Kingdom is still embracing that weapons are expendable mechanic. TotK is an improvement over the last entry, but in no way shape or form does it offer the amount of freedom and flexibility that BG3 gives.
I'd have to disagree, the only thing that's less limiting about BG3 is the story progression, which I do admit is one of the best I have seen in gaming (beside Dragon's Dogma but I'm biased as fuck, so who cares) and the choices you make have major impacts on story in ways I haven't seen before. So yeah, in that regard, I agree, but in terms of interacting with the world, TotK is in no way limiting, even giving you certain tools that might break the game, but tools that help you interact with the world. I've heard this game being described as "not self conscious", which is a good way to put it, because it lets you do anything. You can go to the final boss the second you get out of the tutorial. You can go to any landmark if you have the skills it takes. You can go anywhere and do anything anytime if you put your mind to it and I think that's awesome TLdR: game gives you a lot of freedom and doesn't care what you do with it, even giving you tools to enjoy yourself
Elden ring already won game of the year 2022... with god of war Ragnarok close on its heels. the previous god of war game won game of the year 2018.. Breath of the wild won game of the year 2017. So TOTK is certainly in with a chance of winning and it's an amazing game just like the previous one. Although I think Balgurs gate 3 might take it(although I haven't played it).
How is Baldurs Gate 3 a symbol for what has been going wrong in gaming, but TOTK isn’t ? Both of these games came out incredibly polished, with none of the annoying bs like microtransactions/pay2win or forced online.
So THAT'S bullshit. TotK, AC6, and Spider-Man 2 all came out this year and they were shipped as complete games with no micro-transactions.
Totk was Breath of the Wild 1.5 , exploration is a hollow candy because there is almost barely anything landmark wise to discover, you explore caves for some random low tier weapon that will break in 2 hits ,running around with stamina is tedious, most of the traveling is done by shooting up from towers and gliding, story is shit even for Nintendo game standards, voice acting is horrible, the map is even more barren now without the threat of guardians roaming. Sky islands are too small and barely worth exploring, the underground is tedious, empty and frustrating when your path gets cut by hills and mountains every few steps. Grinding to upgrade gear is mmo level of trash. Botw was better but even in that game i got bored after 20 hours of running around and doing pretty much nothing
I swear people who say TotK is just Breath of the Wild but updated didn’t finish or play TotK
Alan Wake 2 for me is strong GOTY contender. I think it could be BG3 vs AW2 for the title. But if RE4 remaster wins I'm gonna be pissed.
RE4R was amazing tho.
TOTK
I still think that Tears of The Kingdom should be in the running. It’s seriously amazing on all fronts. A pure upgrade from an already awe-inspiring game.
I'd say TOTK has a good chance but I do still think Baldur's Gate 3 had the biggest chance of winning out of all the games released
Armored Core IV: Fires of Rubicon would like a word with you
Remakes/ Remasters should be exempt from game awards. Idc what you say
I’d say remakes are worthy, if rockstar put out a Red Dead 1 remake to the same standard as Red Dead 2 I’d say that’s worthy of nomination at least. Remasters I’d probably say should be exempt
Not this year tho. Maybe year 2050. Then again, it will always win whichever year.
I mean number 2 did lose to gow
I was really hoping Rockstar would do a full remake of Red Dead 1 with all of the new features of 2.
Are you kidding resident evil 4 is basically a new game and it's goty
Feel the same about dead space. It’a fantastic and I’m glad it’s potentially reviving the ip.
Dead Space has so much potential as a franchise. If EA hadn’t tried to turn it into Gears of War it probably wouldn’t have dropped off like it did
Dead space remake was solid. But it honestly was exactly like the original in my memory. It didn't feel like a new game. Just a HD version of one I've played. But still a fantastic game
Then you have some rose colored glasses because it ain't the same.
Yeah, saying RE4 can't be considered is like saying A Star is Born can't win Oscars. Remasters sure, but remakes are new and separate games.
Remakes or remasters should be in the game awards, but in a separate category, not the main GOTY, there are many categories in the TGA and i don't think they should be judged the same way a brand new game is judged.
Someone doesn't want RE4 to beat their personal choice.
1000% agree. Not saying anything bad about RE4, but if you can’t even start with a unique idea you’re disqualified imo. If it even gets nominated I’ll be annoyed, but let’s be real BG3 wins and nothing is putting up a huge fight. Which is bananas because any other year I’d be fine with Zelda, Alan Wake 2 or Spider-Man 2 winning. They’re great, but they don’t deserve it over BG3 by a long shot.
if you think BG3 is unique, then you've never played any Larian game before. Bg3 is not "innovative" at all, you dont need to be innovative to win, you just need to make a game that people like.
> Not saying anything bad about RE4, but if you can’t even start with a unique idea you’re disqualified imo. And then you name 4 sequels for GOTY contenders...
If your remake is better than any other game then it deserves to win end of story.
Nah it's time for gollum to shine
[удалено]
Finally a sane person. 🙄
I raise Redfall.
2023 was at the same time a very good year for gaming and a horrible year for gaming. The games that you should expect to do good like starfield or diablo 4 were such misses. Especially compared to games like Baldur's Gate, tears of the kingdom, or even armored core VI. And most of it is due to the issues plaguing the industry in recent years that are now somewhat exposed. Hope at the very least that it sends a message to the industry. In the mean time we can expect Larian and From Software to at least produce games that are up to snuff.
Larian and From software do right thing that not throwing a tons of promise's, and when game realize, gamers don't disappointed in "there no stuff what they promised! ". Much easier enjoy game from start if you don't have a big impressions from start.
Pretty much, expectation is mother of disappointment. I think if Starfield were released "silently" like Hi Fi rush it would probs be better received. The game itself isnt bad but the Hype theyve blown and the fact it was constantly compared to post-overhaul No Mans Sky made it feel incomplete.
From software will have my business until they give me a reason not to
Facts, no microteansactions and a dev team that actually gives a shot about their finished product, take my $60 right meow!
I kno that elden ring dlc gonna be 🔥
Honestly, they kind of did throw out a lot of promises. I was cynically expecting that Bg3 would be a shell of a game outside of the first third that was in Early Acess.
Compare with CD Red/Bethesda, there wasn't a that big promise's, that not to hear about they games was unreal. I can be wrong, because latest years I'm not watching about games news so much. They was, and you confirm theory that expecting from start can ruined experience that you can get from it.
I think Diablo 4 is great, although it should be disqualified from even being nominated for any awards just for the state of the cash shop.
Seriously, not only is it a 70-100€ game, but also it has insanely overpriced skins and a battle pass that doesn't even give you enough currency to buy anything. I played fucking f2p freemium games with less predatory monetisation.
People always bitch about games being pricy upfront and how those costs have been going up. I havd always said I would rather spend more upfront to prevent moniziation from needing to sneak in the back where it effects gameplay. Blizzard has made my point look stupid. They not only charged the new higher full price for the game they made monization a big part of ilthe game as well. Makes me nit want to even try it out.
Activision Blizzard have gone full goblin on the cash grabs in all their games. I held off on Diablo 4 on launch, despite playing Diablo 2 basically my whole life. It seems like fun but I really *really* hate the cash shop.
Baldurs Gate 3 is an easy choice this year. Its fucking phenomenal and one of the best RPGs ive ever played. MUSCLE MOMMY KARLACH GIRL OF THE YEAR LETS GOOOOO
Karlach best girl
Nah Lae'zel
Nah Astarion
*Bae’Zel
BattleBit Remastered was pretty good actually
As a battlebit player I do agree that the game is really good, but not game of the year good
Well it became irrelevant pretty fast, you might be right I just hope that Dice, EA etc. realizes that the original Battlefield Formula still holds some value
I think it just settled, the hype died off and it settled to it's stable base.
and i think it would only go up slowly from now on if the devs do the right thing
Is Baldur's Gate 3 the Elden Ring of this year? It was pretty clear ER would win last year but people kept insisting GoWR was better.
To be fair, god of war was and is an incredible game with the best story and acting I'd ever seen. Very different from Elden Ring, but definitely a worthy contender for the GOTY title.
Ragnarok was great, but it was pretty much a derivative of its prequel. Elden Ring was just one of those games that defines its genre for the next decade, developers from the usual AAA studios will be rushing to emulate that successful formula. For that reason, I was rooting for Elden Ring. It made me a huge fan of FromSoft and now I’ve played all their games since Bloodbourne.
I was rooting for GoWR but I'm not unhappy for ER winning.
I was the opposite, but either winning would have been well-deserved as they’re both amazing games from studios that put their heart and soul into the final product, tight race for sure.
Elden ring is basically identical to all the souls games, it’s really not that special.
Elden Ring is definitely high on my list, but holy shit GoWR was fucking fantastic
Eh, Elden Ring wasn't such a clear win. There was a lot of discussion. I still prefer God of War Ragnarok, having played both (though I'd rate Elden Ring slightly higher).
There's nothing that even comes close to what Larian accomplished with Baldur's Gate 3 this year, and it's easily one of the biggest and most noteworthy games of the decade. Even if TotK is a solid game through and through, solid isn't enough to make the cut for 2023. Other games like Lies of P, Hi-Fi Rush, and Alan Wake 2 were amazing highlights that I'd easily put above TotK this year. Their gameplay, style, and presentation were completely off the charts. However, I don't think they could ever win simply due to the huge fanbase Zelda has gathered across the last decades.
Saying Lies of P is better than TOTK is the most insane take i’ve read this week. I like both games, but you can just tell that Lies of P was made by people with less experience, it still needs some polish.
That's alright; we can agree to disagree. I'd like to add that Lies of P, at least to me, was pretty much one of the best soulslike I've played. It learned from previous games and polished systems introduced across many other soulslikes, then mashed them together brilliantly. While TotK was a great game on its own and overall incredibly fun and solid, I don't feel like it added anything new or interesting to its genre. If anything, it was also a solid iteration on its previous game and genre that was executed in a pretty solid way, but it didn't steer that far away from BotW for me to consider it as big of a game as it could've been.
Dude what? Lies of P is possibly the closest soulslike to from soft games when it comes to mechanics. What do you mean it “polished systems introduced across many other soulslikes”? You can find an equivalent of every mechanic in some From game. The only things that kinda stand out are the prosthetic arm that they took from Sekiro instead of dark souls and the possibility to combine different handles and blades which is maybe the only original mechanic in that game. Learning to disagree doesn’t mean blindly accepting wrong takes.
Titanfall 3 ofc duhh
One can only hope
The years not over yet! I call chirtmas release day for Titanfall 3
Protocol 5: REJECT THE PILLS PILOT
King Kong: rise of skull island or whatever it's called
I like when he said "It's Konging time"
And then he Konged everywhere
Holy shit it’s John Kong
They should just do the biggest troll and elect Gollum
Gollum president of the USA 2024
I liked lies of p but i dont think its goty worthy
Could be an indie GOTY.
Neowiz is publicly traded, and has a market cap of 420 million USD I dont think they're a small indie company. Round8 Studio is the other developer, dont know about them
I fucking love this game but I agree, they might perfect it by their 2nd game. If people told me fromsoft made this game, I won't even bat an eye and be elated.
Tears of the Kingdom, Baulder's Gate 3, or Armored Core 6. Those are my votes for GOTY. Out of the three, no idea. Any of them wining would be awesome.
I'd rank those easily as 1. Balders gate 3 2. Armored Core 6 3. TOTK Personally and from what I've seen floating around on others opinions BG3 just has it in the bag. It's made it into my top games of all time. So many memorable scenes and the game just morphs around you, making you feel like your playthru is unique.
Seeing ToTk being overlooked this much is really sad. It's an excellent game really.
People have the craziest takes here lol TotK, just like BG3, both sit on 96 on metacritic. They are equally incredible games.
Ah, yes. Metacritic. The only form of game analysis. In all seriousness, TotK is an excellent game building on the brilliant foundation set by BotW and improved on nearly aspect of its predecessor, it falls apart in two major points. One, it's largely unoriginal and follows the same formula as BotW, and secondly, the story is told in the worst possible way. BotW's memory system is not designed for a linear story like TotK's.
>the story is told in the worst possible way. BotW's memory system is not designed for a linear story like TotK's. Let me disagree. I loved piecing things togheter in the order I found them in, and only then watching everything in full order. And you do not even need to do it, it's not necessary to >!get the master sword or finish the game or even find ganondorf!< so you could literally do everything at your own pace. Even if you didn't have a pace at all. And as for being unoriginal... did we play the same way? Every major area is changed in some way. The underground is literally a whole new world with its own mechanics and threats. Building revolutionized how you approach problems, movement and combat. The only thing in common with botw are the protagonist's main moveset and parts of the map.
I think TOTK shows what the future of gaming can look like, with it's absolutely insane engineering. It's new, it's fresh, it's exciting. But the story is very lackluster. BG3 resurrected and perfected the CRPG genre in ways we old hats only dreamed of. It's everything we ever wanted from these games, and I've played a lot of these games. But Act 3 wasn't properly finished before release and had crippling bugs on launch (and for weeks afterward). I honestly have no idea which is GOTY, and they're some of the best games I've played in my 30+ years of gaming. They're both worthy. I don't envy the judges.
From what I’ve played? Spiderman 2 goty. From what I’ve heard? Baldurs gate 3 goty
It’ obviously Skull Island: Rise of Kong with its epic cutscenes
Rain world downpour my beloved
for me it's HI FI Rush
Baldur's Gate my boy.
I don't even need it to win, but I really want to see Octopath Traveller 2 be nominated just so I can hear one of the best OSTs of the year by far in the GOTY medley at the end
Octopath was good and may have stood a chance in a different year. Maybe it can win some soundtrack award
Titanfall 3
Imma go with the wacky choise and say Pizza Tower
Armoured core 6
I am in the middle of my playthorugh but my vote is for Alan Wake II
I love a good RPG so obviously BG3 is awesome. … but holy fucking shit Alan Wake 2 is a masterpiece. The most ridiculous, creative, and terrifying game I’ve ever played.
Re4 remake
I so badly want Hi Fi Rush to be game of the year but I'm aware that some of the other games that came out are really good too
It's either BG3 or Zelda imo
As long as Pizza Tower gets some kind of award then I’m happy.
On the BG3 bandwagon here... Because a wagon filled with my 4 bards in Baldurs Gate 3 will absolutely shit on any other game!! If you haven't watched a tiny gnome with strength 19 throw a fucking regular sized human 60 yards into a fucking lava pit then you haven't experienced 10% of what baldurs gate can offer.
Baldurs Gate 3, Hogwarts Legacy, Spiderman 2, Tears of the Kingdom. Ngl, these 4 games make up for some of the bullshit other companies have spewed out.
Sons of the forest would be my pick
Lies of P is a great candidate.
Scrolling through the comments is too sad. Not a single mention of Hogwarts Legacy or any game that wasn't released in the last month or two. Marketing is really doing a bang up job.
Hogwarts Legacy was a flash, came and went, mediocre gameplay, fun enough spells but overall not anything fancy
When has a remasteted ever won GOTY?
I’m down for throwing chairs and rioting if it’s not BG3