Current Events > The 2023 GotY situation:

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/5/8/AAA5x8AAEwVe.jpg

That is all

Starfield

Ratchetrockon posted...

Starfield

Bethesda games shouldn't be eligible their release year, but the year after, judged after the modding community fixes the game

I thought Zelda had this in the bag, especially after some mixed response to FF16, but then Baldur's Gate seems to have stolen it.

Lol Starfield. Very unlikely.

What makes these the game of the year candidates?

They give DLC GotY now?

ViewtifulJoe posted...

What makes these the game of the year candidates?

Dude, don't start again

There's not going to be enough mainstream critics that will give it GOTY over Zelda. It's either Zelda or Starfield if that hits.

Maybe, but probably not.

And I'm assuming you mean the big ones. Every major game gets at least one goty award from some organization

Also, why would FF### care what another game does?

smh at people forgetting the underdog - WrestleQuest

Starfield
Spider-Man 2
Resident Evil 4 Remake

Punished_Blinx posted...

There's not going to be enough mainstream critics that will give it GOTY over Zelda. It's either Zelda or Starfield if that hits.

You think? I will admit that I had assumed Baldur's Gate was too niche, but the launch has proven otherwise. It could still be Zelda though.

I think Starfield won't live up to its own hype, but I could certainly be wrong.

Does anyone still think Spider-Man has a chance?

Love me BG3 but TotK is still GotY.

bsp77 posted...

You think? I will admit that I had assumed Baldur's Gate was too niche, but the launch has proven otherwise. It could still be Zelda though.

I think Starfield won't live up to its own hype, but I could certainly be wrong.

Does anyone still think Spider-Man has a chance?

Yeah I think a lot of mainstream critics that vote for this stuff are in the "It's a great game but not for me" kind of camp. PC gaming and what that audience looks for is overall pretty underrepresented when it comes to gaming coverage. It'll win a few though and will probably be 2nd or 3rd when it comes to overall outlets.

I think Spider-man 2 is going to be more of the same. It'll be solid but won't be as exciting.

Punished_Blinx posted...

Yeah I think a lot of mainstream critics that vote for this stuff are in the "It's a great game but not for me" kind of camp. PC gaming and what that audience looks for is overall pretty underrepresented when it comes to gaming coverage. It'll win a few though and will probably be 2nd or 3rd when it comes to overall outlets.

I think Spider-man 2 is going to be more of the same. It'll be solid but won't be as exciting.

I completely agreed with this until the launch which has been much larger than the audience should be. And Metacritic is through the roof (still at only 37 reviews though). We'll see. I really don't know. I did give TotK a 10 though.

Note that I haven't played it, as I am awaiting the PS5 release. Not my typical purchase either, but I feel I am missing out.

bsp77 posted...

Dude, don't start again

What? The closest thing to an explanation TC gave is a picture of a castle exploding with some game titles over it.

I think it's going to be either Starfield or BG3. TotK also has the handicap of being released earlier in the year, which can affect awards show performances across all mediums. Recency bias is pretty big.

Hayame_Zero posted...

I think it's going to be either Starfield or BG3. TotK also has the handicap of being released earlier in the year, which can affect awards show performances across all mediums. Recency bias is pretty big.

Didn't effect BOTW, Sekiro, GOW, or Elden Ring

ViewtifulJoe posted...

What? The closest thing to an explanation TC gave is a picture of a castle exploding with some game titles over it.

You already said this is a shitty year and acted baffled by people pointing out RE4, Zelda, FF, and Baldur's Gate. Plus upcoming games like Starfield and Spider-Man. You then get started going off about "who says these are great games". You seem out of touch with how well received certain games are.

Hayame_Zero posted...

I think it's going to be either Starfield or BG3. TotK also has the handicap of being released earlier in the year, which can affect awards show performances across all mediums. Recency bias is pretty big.

I haven't seen as much evidence of recency bias with games. Movies, most definitely.

I want to see Todd on the stage

bsp77 posted...

You already said this is a shitty year and acted baffled by people pointing out RE4, Zelda, FF, and Baldur's Gate. Plus upcoming games like Starfield and Spider-Man. You then started going off about "who says these are great games". You seem out of touch with how well received certain games are.

I don't think I acted baffled, I did ask who specifically was saying they were great and why though. Didn't get an answer.

totk is going to win because it has zelda in the title

it's zelda. i'm surprised at the hype for BG3 but it just came out. we'll see how long it lasts for. diablo 4 had a lot of hype at first too and that faded quickly. i know pretty much nothing about BG3 tho but i did beat the 1st 2 multiple times and beat both of the champions games.

i don't think starfield will win it. if it was ES6 or fallout 5 then they'd definitely have a big shot at beating zelda. just don't think a new IP will be able to do it.

think people are just forgetting a bit about how big TOTK was since it's been out awhile.

creativeme posted...

it's zelda. i'm surprised at the hype for BG3 but it just came out. we'll see how long it lasts for. diablo 4 had a lot of hype at first too and that faded quickly. i know pretty much nothing about BG3 tho but i did beat the 1st 2 multiple times and beat both of the champions games.

i don't think starfield will win it. if it was ES6 or fallout 5 then they'd definitely have a big shot at beating zelda. just don't think a new IP will be able to do it.

think people are just forgetting a bit about how big TOTK was since it's been out awhile.

Metacritic scores (which do matter somewhat for GOTY noms)

Diablo 4: 88
TotK: 96
BG3: 97

And for comparison further:

FF16: 87
RE4 Remake: 93

Ultimately, BG3 is much more like TotK than Diablo. But as mentioned above, it could be considered niche.

Armored Core 6 >>>>>

I have a feeling the mainstream gaming media will be too scared of pissing off both the Zelda fanboys and the triple aaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy gaming industry who'll be desperate to bury it to choose BG3 over TotK.

It's not that I consider it niche per se. I think maybe Forza Horizon is a good comparison. Reviews extremely well. Considered the best of the genre. But it's not what the critics pick for GOTY so it doesn't win.

Games like TOTK and Starfield historically are picked for GOTY type awards more than BG3. To be fair RPG's have an advantage over racing games so it'll do better than Forza Horizon.

It happened to Original Sin 2 as well. Which came out the same year as BOTW funnily enough so having a look at that year;
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/8/1/AACT2jAAEwV1.jpg

Yet when it came to awards
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/8/2/AACT2jAAEwV2.png

Divinity Original Sin 2 won 7 GOTY awards.

You can see Mario Odyssey having the same sort of effect. Amazing review score yet more outlets would give Horizon Zero Dawn GOTY over it.

Punished_Blinx posted...

It happened to Original Sin 2 as well. Which came out the same year as BOTW funnily enough so having a look at that year;

What a neat coincidence.

It's a little crazy to see a turn based table top inspired RPG having a real shot at taking game of the year over TotK.

I want Baulder's Gate 3 to win but I know the winner will be Zelda

Gonna have to see how Armored Core plays out. I thought it was Zelda for sure but FromSoft are rockstars after Elden Ring so idk

Punished_Blinx posted...

Games like TOTK and Starfield historically are picked for GOTY type awards more than BG3. To be fair RPG's have an advantage over racing games so it'll do better than Forza Horizon.

I agree. But I have an inkling this year could be different. This just feels different. A game that was expected to be great but niche somehow beat almost all expectations and also went mainstream. It has momentum.

I think BG3 is absolutely GotY material. I don't see how another game can compete with it, even in a year stacked with good shit. I honestly see BG3 as being equivalent to Elden Ring in terms of quality, replayability, and popularity.

Didn't Disco Elysium win most of the GotYs the year it released? BG3 is not nearly as niche as that game is.

I love TotK but I really do think BG3 deserves the win here.

Fromsoft games weren't winning GotY awards until they were. I don't see why past trends are enough reason to count out BG3.

It seems crazy to me that people hold TotK in high regard. Id say its like a 7/10 at best.

Same with RE4.

Smashingpmkns posted...

Didn't Disco Elysium win most of the GotYs the year it released?

No.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/9/6/AACT2jAAEwWE.png

myusernameislame posted...

Fromsoft games weren't winning GotY awards until they were. I don't see why past trends are enough reason to count out BG3.

Fromsoft didn't dominate GOTY awards until they released an open world action-adventure game. Just like Zelda.

Sekiro did win the Game Awards in 2019 but it was overall a pretty weaker year that year. When it comes to overall outlets they still mostly went elsewhere.

Death stranding was bullied by most gamers too. Was the underdog of that year

Punished_Blinx posted...

No.

Okay well Death Stranding won more than the rest and its even more niche than Disco Elysium lol

Glob posted...

It seems crazy to me that people hold TotK in high regard. Id say its like a 7/10 at best.

Same with RE4.

Both easy 10s for me. FF16 on the other hand....

Armored Core 6, Tears of the Kingdom, Baldurs gate 3, Starfield and Spider-man 2 are the big games i see getting Nominated for GoTY

Resident Evil 4 and Street fighter 6 i think are just edged out of those top spots

Smashingpmkns posted...

Okay well Death Stranding won more than the rest and its even more niche than Disco Elysium lol

Death Stranding is a cinematic action game. It's much more suited to the mainstream game reviewer than the turn based DnD RPG that BG3 is.

Death Stranding also sold 10 million copies so I'm not entirely sure what you mean.

Glob posted...

It seems crazy to me that people hold TotK in high regard. Id say its like a 7/10 at best.

Same with RE4.

It's an improvement to BotW, a previous goty holder in just about every way. It's got so many tools that make traversing its open world fun in a way that many other open worlds lack, I wouldn't be upset at all if it took goty

Smashingpmkns posted...

Didn't Disco Elysium win most of the GotYs the year it released? BG3 is not nearly as niche as that game is.

I love TotK but I really do think BG3 deserves the win here.

It won the most categories in the game award show of its year. It just didn't win the actual goty

Punished_Blinx posted...

Death Stranding is a cinematic action game. It's much more suited to the mainstream game reviewer than the turn based DnD RPG that BG3 is.

Death Stranding also sold 10 million copies so I'm not entirely sure what you mean.

It's essentially a walking simulator (not derogatory I love DS) with very little combat. 95% of the game is traversal and inventory management which it does extremely well. It definitely is not the typical mainstream game, if anything it broke the mold the same way BG3 has.

BG3 has already sold somewhere around 5 mil copies and that's before the PS5 release. It's a massive hit.

AC 6 & all of the 1 million people that will buy a copy worldwide is not going to get it GotY it's always been a very niche series & it isn't dark souls so why would it win? Lol

Starfield, developed by Bethesda who have never made a decent bug & glitch free game until modders fixed it, when it's locked in 30FPS on consoles & has uncanny valley mass effect Andromeda NPCs isn't winning shit either.

Tears & Baldur's Gate 3, maybe FF16 if it gets really really lucky, are the best cases for winners

Gwynevere posted...

It's an improvement to BotW, a previous goty holder in just about every way. It's got so many tools that make traversing its open world fun in a way that many other open worlds lack, I wouldn't be upset at all if it took goty

I disagree that its an improvement. I agree that BotW was awesome though.

bsp77 posted...

Both easy 10s for me. FF16 on the other hand....

I havent played a FF game properly since X.

Smashingpmkns posted...

It's essentially a walking simulator (not derogatory I love DS) with very little combat. 95% of the game is traversal and inventory management which it does extremely well. It definitely is not the typical mainstream game, if anything it broke the mold the same way BG3 has.

BG3 has already sold somewhere around 5 mil copies and that's before the PS5 release. It's a massive hit.

I get all that. But as I said earlier 2019 didn't have something like a BOTW, Skyrim or Naughty Dog game that would generally dominate the awards so the winners in general were more scattered.

2023 has TOTK and potentially Starfield. So BG3 has a greater uphill battle. If BG3 released in 2019 it probably would win the most.