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Topic: What makes a game "GOTY"?

Posts 1 to 20 of 136

Varkster

I've had a recent argument on NL about GOTY and how The Last of Us 2 isn't deserving of so many wins. This forum discussion is not about The Last of Us 2 or what won this year, so please don't mention those things. I just found some of the responses I got quite curious. A lot of people seem to think that GOTY should be voted in by players by sheer popularity. However, that doesn't exactly seem to cut it for me.

GOTY in my eyes is an award that should go to games of exceptional quality which achieved highest grounds that year as opposed to the other games, either in its genre or overall. Popularity, unless it's linked directly to the game's high quality, should not matter much. While Fortnite was a good game, did it deserve the win for GOTY 2018 by the same publication? (Golden Joystick)

I'm making this thread to see some opinions on what to you should make a game deserving of the title "Game of the Year" because it seems this differs from person to person. Yes, I am aware that most publications have severely varying GOTY contenders and winners, most gaming websites have their own and some are selected by community and some are not. Obviously a lot of communities have different fanbases with their own quirks and preferences so results will also almost always be different. A lot of the bigger GOTY announcers like Golden Joystick and the Game Awards are at this point laughing stock, but I still think they host a significant place when deciding which games are worth playing for any person interested.

Just curious for opinions here, if I don't get any, well bad luck I guess.

Varkster

ThanosReXXX

@Varkster In my humble opinion, I'd say/I feel that it's probably supposed to be a mix of both official awards/media achievements and popular demand.

Any type of game, movie, series or music album can literally be praised into the heavens by professional journalism/media/industry peers, but if it can't trigger/enthuse any consumers/target audience, then the awards are pretty much useless...

Edited on by ThanosReXXX

'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

Nintendo Network ID: ThanosReXX

Zuljaras

@Varkster

A GotY must be a wow factor game. Just look at The Witcher 3, Zelda BotW and God of War.

Those games are so beloved by the fans and there are just a handful of people that have mixed feelings about them.

If a games is GotY you can feel it.

For example I can see how much Animal Crossing NH is loved and how only 50% of the people love TLOU2. Both games are exclusives.

Forget the graphics and the emphasis on cunning tech achievements, there are categories for that. The GotY should be how the players feel about a game.

Edited on by Zuljaras

Matt_Barber

Isn't it basically an award for the game with the most hype?

Matt_Barber

Varkster

@ThanosReXXX The thing that's bothersome is that while I agree, a Hollywood flick like Iron Man 3 can be shown to any casual movie-goer and they will say the movie is excellent.

A person who has seen many movies can say that something like Whiplash is probably a better movie thanks to the performances, pacing, etc., despite clearly having a much smaller audience and a lower budget. The Oscars are a pretentious joke because they always tend to pick out the most arthouse films which nearly nobody has seen. That's where the term "oscar-bait" came from.

Games in general are very similar. Every year we have "award-bait" where games are going for a cinematic approach with the promise of a deeper meaning and such. The difference is these games are also the most popular in this medium, so it becomes a very different scenario from the Oscars. These games usually have the strongest marketing throughout the year and everyone goes crazy about how "deep" and such the games are.

That's why you'll never see something like Yakuza at the game awards, despite being exceptional games. Breath of the Wild and Horizon being nominated for GOTY in 2017 was a very interesting turn of events because those games didn't seem like they were actively chasing the GOTY praise.

I listen to a lot of long form critiques on YouTube during work because the differing opinions fascinate me. This year, almost everybody who has made a critique on TLOU2 had very similar flaws to point out to each other, but the mass population who buys games voted this game into winning GOTY for the year.

It's bizarre because this means that Iron Man 3 won the Oscar. Bad example, probably, but I think you get where I'm coming from.

What bothered me on the article where I was arguing is that most people just dismissed everything I said as an 'unpopular opinion' yet many people who are well versed in gaming and storytelling actually share a very similar opinion to me. These same people are not the immediate "casual" gamers you see on the street, but are obviously critics and have been for a long time.

Maybe I take the GOTY awards too seriously and I should treat it as badly as the Oscars are treated by everybody around, but the problem is that games are still quite a new medium. Stating what makes a "GOTY" will actually change the kinds of games and quality we will receive in the future because that title still matters a lot to the industry.

Varkster

ThanosReXXX

@Varkster Yup, I do get you, and we're pretty much on the same page there. And that is also why I feel that it should be a mix of professional opinions and consumer enthusiasm/demand. The professional, logical opinions will temper/mitigate any overblown effects of raging fanboys and so on.

Well, in theory/in my head anyways...

'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

Nintendo Network ID: ThanosReXX

Varkster

For the record I don't even think something like Animal Crossing should ever win a game of the year award because it very much isn't a game of the year, it's more of a life service game, where you will keep coming back to it when new content is added.

Unless the game tried something insane and new which evoked a strong emotion from players it shouldn't exactly be a contender.

The real GOTY for me this year was Hades, and I believe a lot of people who have played Hades feel that way, but unfortunately it will always be the minority compared to the blockbusters.

Varkster

ThanosReXXX

@Varkster As for TLOU2, and all the overblown praise that it got, I'd argue that (although I probably shouldn't mention it because of the potential sh** storm it might cause) this is in large part due to how "modern", woke and LGBT-friendly the game is, so it's "revolutionary" and as such, almost already award-winning by default...

'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

Nintendo Network ID: ThanosReXX

kkslider5552000

ThanosReXXX wrote:

this is in large part due to how "modern", woke and LGBT-friendly the game is, so it's "revolutionary" and as such, almost already award-winning by default...

I'm mixed on whether I disagree because enough games are more LGBT-friendly or agree because enough critics are too basic to play a game that isn't made by a massive corporation (outside of occasional indie surprise hits like Among Us).

I do think that's part of it, but I think a lot of critics just have a specific idea of what makes a game 10/10 sometimes. And being a technically impressive, well made game with the right critic pandering MEANINGFUL (citation needed) story. Which is understandable compared to most AAA games whose stories either might as well not exist or are...considerably less bold. I mean if most of David Cage's games can be praised for their embarrassingly poorly written (if often entertaining) stories, the bar's unfortunately not the highest.

That being said, New Horizons could absolutely be considered a GOTY. No story driven game is ever going to be as meaningful to a lot of people as what this game was to many people this year. I think that's been abundantly obvious since it came out.

Edited on by kkslider5552000

Non-binary, demiguy, making LPs, still alive

Megaman Legends 2 Let's Play!:
LeT's PlAy MEGAMAN LEGENDS 2 < Link to LP

ThanosReXXX

@kkslider5552000 Mind you, I'm not against games that offer such diversity in content, but I most definitely AM against games winning prices and/or popularity contests because of such content being in them. I'd wish for it to just be deemed normal enough/accepted enough so that we don't have to pay any extra attention to it, practically making it the most standout thing of the entire game.

'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

Nintendo Network ID: ThanosReXX

kkslider5552000

ThanosReXXX wrote:

Mind you, I'm not against games that offer such diversity in content, but I most definitely AM against games winning prices and/or popularity contests because of such content being in them. I'd wish for it to just be deemed normal enough/accepted enough so that we don't have to pay any extra attention to it, practically making it the most standout thing of the entire game.

I do ultimately agree, but I largely don't think that's what has been winning it awards. I think that's been a weird issue on the side, and beyond that its mostly been a discussion on whether the game is as deep and meaningful or interesting as it thinks it is. It's just the Red Dead 2 of this year, essentially.

I mean, as a fellow LGBT, I've mostly just been focused on LGBT stuff that isn't seemingly misery porn like this anyway. Or like Animal Crossing's lovely change from choosing gender to choosing style.

Edited on by kkslider5552000

Non-binary, demiguy, making LPs, still alive

Megaman Legends 2 Let's Play!:
LeT's PlAy MEGAMAN LEGENDS 2 < Link to LP

Varkster

@ThanosReXXX A whole lot of my friends are gay and their favourite games are things like Final Fantasy X and Steins;Gate (which for the record has one of the worst representations of LGBT in recent memory).

It's the whole argument of feminism in movies. The classic movie Alien represented women better than Captain Marvel did. This goes unmentioned because it didn't actively promote itself as a movie empowering women. It was a movie with a badass female character because the director felt it added value to the story. A lot of films in the industry nowadays dismiss this entirely and it's a shame to see the gaming industry follow suit.

Look at the baffling choices made in Battlefield V for reference.

Varkster

Varkster

Gotta say I'm surprised that this topic went in the direction it did so quick but everyone seems cool and polite with it, not many forums you'd see this on from personal experience.

Varkster

Tasuki

When a company decides that their game sold well enough and they can sell a repackaged version with maybe some extras sprinkled in such as all the DLC of said game.

RetiredPush Square Moderator and all around retro gamer.

My Backlog

Nintendo Network ID: Tasuki311

ThanosReXXX

@kkslider5552000 What I actually meant was that it was what made a lot more people and/or media notice the game, in ways that a game otherwise wouldn't. So not that it was the deciding factor for it garnering so much praise and so on, but definitely a contributing factor, due to it daring to go there, and running with it. Especially with a main character.

Sometimes, both in games and movies, it's all about ticking boxes to appease the populace. Back in the early 80s, it was the token black (or Asian) guy, nowadays, a lot of shows have the token gay/lesbian character. Nothing against it in general, but not if it is just for the sake of.

Case in point: in Will & Grace it made perfect sense, in one of my favorite TV series "Quantico", it made absolutely ZERO sense, in my humble opinion. They could have easily done without the gay guy and all the ensuing drama surrounding it.

'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

Nintendo Network ID: ThanosReXX

Zuljaras

@Varkster Also one of the modern movies that represent women in a good way is Wonder Woman. I was surprised how good it was.

Also Alien was really nice in that regard, even Resident Evil movies had a strong female lead.

I still remember the backlash in the TV Series Gotham where they made The Penguin gay and in love with the Riddler (I read that they made it because the actor that plays the Penguin is gay IRL). Next season his gay behavior was gone and nothing was even mentioned of him loving the Riddler.

Captain Marvel was just ... bad.

Edited on by Zuljaras

ThanosReXXX

@Varkster Agreed. Don't know about Battlefield V, though, seeing as I never played that, so I wouldn't be able to say anything even remotely sensible about that.

On a side note: why are you surprised and why shouldn't we be civil about it? I consider it the only way to be. Who am I to decide/judge how other people spend their lives and so on? It may not be for me, but if it makes them happy, well... it's their life after all.

And of course, the NLife community is one of the best and most normal ones out there, so yeah...
It's probably the main reason why I've been hanging around here for as long as I have, and I ain't planning on leaving just yet.

'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

Nintendo Network ID: ThanosReXX

Anti-Matter

Art is very subjective thing.
Maybe one game is a GOTY for some peoples but not for other peoples.

Anti-Matter

ThanosReXXX

@Anti-Matter I think you're missing the point: we are talking about games that actually have the OFFICIAL label Game of the Year, and if we should agree with how those labels are granted or not. It's not about personal opinions on what we personally think that a game is. GOTY is an official label, after all.

'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

Nintendo Network ID: ThanosReXX

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