Discussion What will be the 6 GOTY nominations at The Game Awards 2023?

[YoboD]

I'm not saying thinking 16 might not get nominated is ridiculous. People have been talking about that possibility for multiple pages and no one objected. I actually think that could happen and it's a fairly reasonable prediction. I think saying that it's almost certainly getting locked out because it's so mid is the ridiculous part. As someone who does think the game is kind of mid, that's just not how criticis viewed the title, hence its kind of a silly and ridiculous take.

Oh yeah that’s true enough. I think the overall consensus on FF16 is very positive. Not that there aren’t people who didn’t vibe with it, but that’s pretty clearly not how the majority viewed it.

Personally I’d give it to the Ghost Trick remaster to make up for the awards it should have won the first time it came out.

 

[Yamanoi]

Sylvie Lime
Hot Summer Sylvie
Girl Adventure
Sylvie Sweetheart
Gimmick
Oatchi 1

What you have against Danny Devito?

 

[Irene]

TotK and Starfield are locks.

Diablo IV and Baldur’s Gate 3 are semi-locks.

Spider-Man 2 and FFXVI are semi-semi locks.

Armored Core is the wildcard.

Dave the Diver will win best indie.

 

[Sampdoria]

Concerning TotK is it THAT much better than the 2017 BotW? Is it truly that much different and innovative five years later? Really, really?

Absolutely not. TotK is just a grindier version of BotW.

 

[balgajo]

Didn't play BG3 but from the reviews it seems like the type of game that will move the industry forward. Unlike BOTW don't think TOTK can possibly have this impact.
Maybe some dev prize on GDC because technically what they accomplished with ultrahand was incredible.

 

[FeiFongWong]

Mindboggling in that XC3 should have won in a landslide

its a popularity contest at the end of the day. More reviewers/gamers played gow, so thats why it got more votes.

 

[anothergamer100]

As of now Whats favourite Baldus gate 3 or TotK?

 

[SuperFakerBros]

As of now Whats favourite Baldus gate 3 or TotK?

Kinda hard to say when Baldur's Gate 3 has still only just come out. I could see the former edging it out if it has enough of that freshness factor pushing it over but we'd need to see how the overall reception is by the end of the year

 

[hologram]

TotK and Starfield are locks.

Diablo IV and Baldur’s Gate 3 are semi-locks.

Spider-Man 2 and FFXVI are semi-semi locks.

Armored Core is the wildcard.

Dave the Diver will win best indie.

Of the games you mention (aside from Dave the Diver lol), I actually think Diablo IV is the second least likely to get a nomination, beating out only Armored Core

 

[Leica]

As of now Whats favourite Baldus gate 3 or TotK?

I'd still give it to TotK. Broader appeal.

 

[Kartina]

yeah baldur gate 3 is a lock for a nomination, they would be blind to not nominate the game after the insane reception. As far as winning goes right now it's a race between it and totk with starfield as the possible favourite. We need to see starfield release and reception of course but if it gets the same reception as those 2 games it will probably win, right now though I'll say we have a 65% chance of baldur's gate 3 winning with a 35% for totk, the rest of the released games is not winning.

 

[Thunder84]

Yeah it's ridiculous. What surprises me most of all especially is the fact that some people think FFXVI has no chance but thar Spider-Man 2 is a lock. Frankly even if Spider-Man 2 reviews higher, FFXVI being a reinvention of the franchise with a mature story is a big thing going for it. Right now I'd put both at about as likely to be nominated, with XVI being a bit more likely. The one ball in Spider-Man 2's court is that it is launching closer to the Game Awards, so it will probably be in critics consciousness more.

I’d argue the opposite for Spider-Man, despite being firmly in the FFXVI gets nominated camp. Insomniac is one of if not the most consistent AAA developer in the industry right now, and the Keighleys have favored western games more often than not.

Both games will probably be nominated, but if it somehow ended up being a battle between the two I’d lean towards Spidey.

 

[Heron]

I think the main chance something as blatantly safe and iterative as TotK had was if no other strong GotY contenders emerged.

But... they have, so I'd be betting against TotK at this stage.

It's kinda like a sports MVP award. When a guy has already won one, he has to be extra special to win it again, or the benefit of the doubt will go to the new challenger. BotW already won, can't give it to BotW 1.5.

 

[JorgenRaft]

TotK certainly has more of an uphill battle than BotW did in 2017. Back then, there were only 5 nominees and its biggest competition was a different Nintendo game.

 

[Coco]

Redfall on the poll:

 

[Vantell]

Baldur's Gate 3 will be nominated for sure, not sure it will win though as I think overall people were more impressed with Tears of the Kingdom. Both games are great tho!

I am really looking forward to see how Starfield, Mario Wonder and Spider-Man 2 will change the field.

 

[SpaceGodzilla]

The thing holding bg3 the most right now is limited ga appeal and the ps5 port potential being bad, but I would still put it the top 2 with totk, not sold on Starfield yet, expecting a 90-93 at most for it along side re4

 

[Lugia667]

I mean if we think TOTK will be penalized for being too similar we have to assume the same for Spidey right?

 

[SpaceGodzilla]

I mean if we think TOTK will be penalized for being too similar we have to assume the same for Spidey right?

or Starfield playing very similar to other Bethesda RPG's Right? it's such a non issue i have no idea why it keeps being brought up

 

[Phendrift]

I feel like people are projecting, TOTK being “too similar or iterative” wasn’t really a sentiment expressed in reviews despite the fact that you may feel that way lol.

The new gameplay and mechanics it added were very much mindblowing, even to developers. It created buzz on Twitter for quite a while after release, similar to its predecessor.

I agree that BG3 would probably be a better story for getting a GOTY win - underdog, niche genre, return of an IP after 20 years - and that TotK has less to “prove” given its sales and reception and that BotW already won the award, but I don’t think it being too similar would be a reason it loses.

 

[SpaceGodzilla]

I feel like people are projecting, TOTK being “too similar or iterative” wasn’t really a sentiment expressed in reviews despite the fact that you may feel that way lol.

The new gameplay and mechanics it added were very much mindblowing, even to developers. It created buzz on Twitter for quite a while after release, similar to its predecessor.

I agree that BG3 would probably be a better story for getting a GOTY win - underdog, niche genre, return of an IP after 20 years - and that TotK has less to “prove” given its sales and reception and that BotW already won the award, but I don’t think it being too similar would be a reason it loses.

and it's not even like the underdog actually won any game of the year at theses awards, all the winners so far have sold well over 10 million copies

EDIT: and before anyone says "it takes two" that was the best-selling game out of the other nominees

 

[Lozjam]

As of now Whats favourite Baldus gate 3 or TotK?

TotK is my favorite game of this year, and it's one of my favorite games of all time.

Breath of the Wild kind of completely shook up the industry, with what is possible in a chemistry engine, and in open air design. Many designers tried and failed to ape on BotW's aesthetic, world design, and philosophy. And the games that succeeded, like Genshin Impact, and Elden Ring, are massive hits. BotW broadened the ideas that were thought of as impossible, and polished it to a sheen.

TotK is a masterclass as a sequel, as a physics engine, and as a game. Almost everything is better than BotW, and developers are gobsmacked on the insane physics, accessible crafting mechanics.

However, I have to say, Baldurs Gate 3 gives me the vibes of BotW when it came out. That game does things that everyone was told was impossible, yet it does. The openness of the gameplay, the different routes you can go through, the absolute freedom of player expression. Deep characters, whose stories can drastically change, a game that is stylistically uncompromised and feels like it's an entire studios vision. There are things in Baldurs gate 3, almost everything, that would have gotten shut down by executives before they even started. A full enriching game with literally 1000s of hours of content, no DLC, full characters. An evil storyline where you can just literally play the game doing genocide. A whole host of romance options for CIS, LBGT, and even more weird ones too. A game like that, should have never existed.

I really feel Zelda has had it's moments. It's my favorite game, but I do think Baldurs gate deserves the nomination more. Baldurs Gate is slowly sending Shockwaves through the industry, so much so I think all the big publishers besides Nintendo are looking what this game did and reevaluating. I really think Baldurs Gate deserves the win.

In any other year, Zelda. But Baldurs Gate is a beacon for western publishers that players want deep experiences that does not look down on them, or wants to exploit them. It shows that complex, content rich games can be profitable without even a cent of DLC or microtransactions.

 

[SpaceGodzilla]

Baldurs Gate is slowly sending Shockwaves through the industry, so much so I think all the big publishers besides Nintendo are looking what this game did and reevaluating.

your putting way to much faith in big publishers

 

[SpaceGodzilla]

your putting way to much faith in big publishers

I'm sorry but even though I love the game BOTW didn't change how most developers make open world games, only three games i can think of have any BOTW influence and that is immortals fenyx rising, Elden ring, and genshin impact. and even then only the immortal devs said the game was inspired by BOTW while the other 2 deny it.

 

[Lozjam]

your putting way to much faith in big publishers

Perhaps so, but I think a game like BotW sent those same shockwaves through the industry too. And a lot of these publishers have to be dragged kicking and screaming.

For example, Ubisoft was absolutely at the top of their game in 2016-2017. Their games were absolutely marveled for a lot of people. But after BotW, the ubisoft open world lost its luster. It took a little bit of time, but people slowly stopped buying and supporting ubisofts titles where they copy and pasted their open world structure. To the point where Ubisoft is in dire straights now, and are actually backtracking of their open world formula for the next assassins creed game.

Similarly, a game like Horizon Zero Dawn sold amazing, and above 20 million units, but Forbidden West is struggling to sell 8 million units with a far bigger install Base. It struggled compared to a game like Elden Ring, a game that uses BotW's design philosophy, easily sailed past 20 million units, and received far more critical praise.

In that same way, after Baldurs gate, people are going to be tired of RPG-Lite games that promise freedom and fail to deliver. Unless they make some huge directional change for example, I really think Dragon Age is in dire straights. Games like Shadows of Mordor, or Suicide Squad, or anything like that will struggle.

People are going to much more hesitant to buy games like that, or even be excited as well, when they can go back into baldurs gate and have a completely fresh experience due to being a different character and making different choices.

 

[balgajo]

I feel like people are projecting, TOTK being “too similar or iterative” wasn’t really a sentiment expressed in reviews despite the fact that you may feel that way lol.

The new gameplay and mechanics it added were very much mindblowing, even to developers. It created buzz on Twitter for quite a while after release, similar to its predecessor.

I agree that BG3 would probably be a better story for getting a GOTY win - underdog, niche genre, return of an IP after 20 years - and that TotK has less to “prove” given its sales and reception and that BotW already won the award, but I don’t think it being too similar would be a reason it loses.

Reviewers love hot takes. A lot of Twilight Princess top scores mentioned it being big and better than Ocarina of Time, best Zelda, one of the GOATs, etc... But in the end game was 3rd in the number of GOTYs that year(unfair, game is much better than oblivion and gears imo). It wasn't even listed as a better game than OOT on GOAT list of the same outlet in that year. My impression is that the same will happen between BOTW and TOTK but only time will tell us.

Totk has a incredible build system but the game never challenges the player to use this system to its fullest potential. So in this sense it feels more like a Minecraft, Mario Maker, where people on internet generates buzz doing some crazy stuff but this won't necessarily be converted into GOTY votes.

As always I can be wrong but that's my bet.

 

[SpaceGodzilla]

that's my bet.

of course it is you've been against open world Zelda games since you joined the forum

 

[Adulfzen]

Baldur's Gate 3 advantage right now is that it is the critical darling while having sort of an underdog narrative to it : "(relatively) small development studio makes incredibly deep RPG putting to shame the big boys" and regardless of how you feel about said narrative, it plays a lot into what people vote, press or not.

My guess right now would be Baldur's Gate 3 being the GOTY with TOTK as a close followup which ultimately doesn't matter as both games are both commercial successes with critical acclaim, so it's more about bragging rights from gamers wanting to take down a notch one franchise or the other.

 

[Thunder84]

I mean if we think TOTK will be penalized for being too similar we have to assume the same for Spidey right?

No one is projecting Spidey to win, though. You don’t have to be super creative to get nominated, but generally the GOTY winner has standout game direction.

or Starfield playing very similar to other Bethesda RPG's Right? it's such a non issue i have no idea why it keeps being brought up

This is a bit disingenuous. The potential and appeal for Starfield extends quite a bit further than just being the next Bethesda RPG.

and it's not even like the underdog actually won any game of the year at theses awards, all the winners so far have sold well over 10 million copies

EDIT: and before anyone says "it takes two" that was the best-selling game out of the other nominees

“Underdog” definitely is a bit of an odd word for multi-million selling titles with critical acclaim, but there’s been multiple instances of a surprise winner. God of War, Sekiro, and It Takes Two were all generally considered to not be the favorites for their respective years. Maybe Overwatch as well, although I wasn’t really paying attention back then.

Hell, the highest rated GOTY nominee (on OpenCritic, dunno about Metacritic) has only won once I’m pretty sure.

 

[balgajo]

Not feeling it with Spider and FFVI btw.

of course it is you've been against open world Zelda games since you joined the forum

I always show my displeasure over it but don't remember using this to bet on irrational stuff.
And technically as someone who loves ALBW it's not even open world, it's the open air concept that I despise.

 

[Lugia667]

No one is projecting Spidey to win, though. You don’t have to be super creative to get nominated, but generally the GOTY winner has standout game direction.


This is a bit disingenuous. The potential and appeal for Starfield extends quite a bit further than just being the next Bethesda RPG.


“Underdog” definitely is a bit of an odd word for multi-million selling titles with critical acclaim, but there’s been multiple instances of a surprise winner. God of War, Sekiro, and It Takes Two were all generally considered to not be the favorites for their respective years. Maybe Overwatch as well, although I wasn’t really paying attention back then.

Hell, the highest rated GOTY nominee (on OpenCritic, dunno about Metacritic) has only won once I’m pretty sure.

God of War was definitly a favorite I thought, it was the highest rated game of the year, though ultimate came very close and imo should have won.

 

[Hero of Hyrule]

I'm sorry but even though I love the game BOTW didn't change how most developers make open world games, only three games i can think of have any BOTW influence and that is immortals fenyx rising, Elden ring, and genshin impact. and even then only the immortal devs said the game was inspired by BOTW while the other 2 deny it.

This is categorically incorrect. Multiple developers have come out and accepted BOTW influence on their games:

• Elden Ring
• Genshin Impact
• Immortals
• Ghost of Tsushima
• Forspoken
• Pokemon Legends
• Sonic Frontiers

Not counting the more subtle (and unacknowledged but still evident) influence for games such as Horizon Forbidden West.

BOTW had a major impact on how open world games were developed and marketed; it just happens to be a genre that takes 4-5 years per game development cycle, so the earliest we saw differences was 2020. Those differences have since continued to manifest in multiple games that have released since.

I also don't understand the idea that developers didn't acknowledge BOTW as an influence, when acknowledging BOTW as an influence has become so overplayed as to become a meme (same as "it's like Dark Souls" "it's like Skyrim"). Developers tripped over themselves to acknowledge BOTW and TOTK.

 

[thoughthaver]

3 games that we have little reference to what the actual reception will be yet?


If this board picked the nominees, then yes FF16 would likely come in around 73rd place right below Gollum. Outside this bubble, including critics like you say, it's been really well regarded. Hell the User Score on Metacritic is pretty much the same as it is for TOTK.

so many games are being well regarded this year lol thats kinda the issue for ff16. all they really need to do is hit high 80s to be in contention and starfield is the only one i could maybe see missing that mark. and ff16 isn't a perfect game. even it's fans admit it has major flaws. which in any other year would be fine and it would easily slide in goty but in this year that won't cut it.

There’s absolutely no guarantee Armored Core will get nominated. It’s a niche series in a rather unpopular genre.

it's not gonna pop off but it's from software post elden ring come on now. if it's good of course.

 

[Hero of Hyrule]

My impression is that the same will happen between BOTW and TOTK but only time will tell us.

Lol come the fuck on, this again? BOTW is 6 years old. In those six years, not only has it maintained the insane acclaim it got in 2017, it has received more of it. A list of 200+ developers and media people the week before TOTK launched voted BOTW as the best game ever made, ahead of Ocarina of Time, ahead of The Witcher 3, ahead of Dark Souls, ahead of The Last of Us. Twilight Princess' acclaim didn't even last the six weeks that remained in the year that it came out in; BOTW has gone six years.

I don't know whether TOTK will continue to maintain this kind of crazy acclaim (my guess is no, BOTW will always get the nod for being the "revolution"), but at this point if you are expecting BOTW's long term critical acclaim to taper off, it is based in no logic or rationality, and just wishful thinking that the rest of the world stop loving a game they so obviously love so that you don't find yourself in the minority on it.

EDIT: I completely misunderstood the post I was responding to

 

[Hero of Hyrule]

God of War was definitly a favorite I thought, it was the highest rated game of the year, though ultimate came very close and imo should have won.

Ultimate was not eligible for 2018 GOTYs, it was eligible for 2019.

God of War was not the highest rated game of 2018, RDR2 with a 97 was.

EDIT: Sorry about the double post.

 

[Lugia667]

I completely forgot about RDR2 for some reason, though I feel like the stories about it's crunch hurt it's chances

 

[balgajo]

Lol come the fuck on, this again? BOTW is 6 years old. In those six years, not only has it maintained the insane acclaim it got in 2017, it has received more of it. A list of 200+ developers and media people the week before TOTK launched voted BOTW as the best game ever made, ahead of Ocarina of Time, ahead of The Witcher 3, ahead of Dark Souls, ahead of The Last of Us. Twilight Princess' acclaim didn't even last the six weeks that remained in the year that it came out in; BOTW has gone six years.

Who is talking about BOTW? I'm comparing Oot and Botw as games that revolutionized the series to Totk and Tp that are critically acclaimed but far from moving the industry forward as their predecessors.

 

[Hero of Hyrule]

Who is talking about BOTW? I'm comparing Oot and Botw as games that revolutionized the series to Totk and Tp that are critically acclaimed but far from moving the industry forward as their predecessors.

You are right, I completely misunderstood, I apologize

 

[JorgenRaft]

so many games are being well regarded this year lol thats kinda the issue for ff16. all they really need to do is hit high 80s to be in contention and starfield is the only one i could maybe see missing that mark. and ff16 isn't a perfect game. even it's fans admit it has major flaws. which in any other year would be fine and it would easily slide in goty but in this year that won't cut it.

I mean if it's a issue for FF16, then it's an issue for every other high 80s scoring single player narrative game coming this year. No game on this poll is perfect. And again, we don't even know how those 3 games are gonna be received.

 

[Thunder84]

God of War was definitly a favorite I thought, it was the highest rated game of the year, though ultimate came very close and imo should have won.

It was widely thought as the 2nd place favorite, with RDR2 being rated higher and having a ton of nominations. It pulled a ton of awards too, so by the end of the show pretty much everyone was expecting RDR2 to sweep.

Ultimate was a GOTY nominee for 2019, and from what I remember was generally considered a favorite alongside RE2, only for both to lose to Sekiro.

 

[SuperFakerBros]

It was widely thought as the 2nd place favorite, with RDR2 being rated higher and having a ton of nominations. It pulled a ton of awards too, so by the end of the show pretty much everyone was expecting RDR2 to sweep.

Ultimate was a GOTY nominee for 2019, and from what I remember was generally considered a favorite alongside RE2, only for both to lose to Sekiro.

I don't know if I'd quite agree with that. I'd say both GoW and RDR 2 seemed to be pretty close in terms of how well received they were. Yeah, RDR 2 has a higher metacritic score but not by much and both were seen as the peaks of their year

 

[Thunder84]

I don't know if I'd quite agree with that. I'd say both GoW and RDR 2 seemed to be pretty close in terms of how well received they were. Yeah, RDR 2 has a higher metacritic score but not by much and both were seen as the peaks of their year

I’m not really disagreeing with that though. Both were very highly received and the clear top two. Most people just placed RDR2 as the favorite, and it winning a bunch of awards out the gate solidified that.

Go back and watch reactions to the announcement, and pretty much everyone was universally surprised. It had nothing to do with quality of the games, people had just incorrectly assumed as a collective that RDR2 was gonna win.

 

[SammyJ9]

Best RPG is going to be a stacked category this year, too. I think these would all be quite possible nominations in a normal year:

• Octopath 2
• Starfield
• Baldur’s Gate 3
• FF16
• Chained Echoes
• Diablo 4
• Sea of Stars
• Honkai Star Rail

But that’s eight options, so with three cuts I think that Chained Echoes, Sea of Stars, and probably Honkai don’t make it? But I don’t know that for sure. Labyrinth of Galleria and maybe Trails Into Reverie should get some consideration too but they’re so niche that I doubt they have a chance. And XC3: Future Redeemed both flew under the radar and also is sort of a DLC expansion so I don’t see that being on the list either. (FE: Engage probably would be in Strategy, if it manages to get a nom at all)

That is a lot of RPGs.

 

[Phendrift]

I remember not being too surprised by GOW’s win in 2018, I think it could’ve gone either way. Which surprises me because I feel like the 3 point metascore difference would’ve made me lean RDR2, but overall GoW just had that similar “what a great revival of the IP” vibe around it that BotW did.

However for some reason I feel like I’ve seen a LOT more RDR2 praise recently, and that combined with Ragnarok not really having staying power in discussions/leaving some people disappointed as a conclusion to 2018 kinda makes me wonder if a rerun happened RDR2 would win.

Or it would just be another case of GAF/ERA rerunning 2008 GOTY again and MGS4 still winning lol.

 

[SpaceGodzilla]

Not sold on it being the front runner but thank God for BG3 destroying any chance of Diablo 4 winning anything

 

[ThanatosIntern]

Best RPG is going to be a stacked category this year, too. I think these would all be quite possible nominations in a normal year:

• Octopath 2
• Starfield
• Baldur’s Gate 3
• FF16
• Chained Echoes
• Diablo 4
• Sea of Stars
• Honkai Star Rail

But that’s eight options, so with three cuts I think that Chained Echoes, Sea of Stars, and probably Honkai don’t make it? But I don’t know that for sure. Labyrinth of Galleria and maybe Trails Into Reverie should get some consideration too but they’re so niche that I doubt they have a chance. And XC3: Future Redeemed both flew under the radar and also is sort of a DLC expansion so I don’t see that being on the list either. (FE: Engage probably would be in Strategy, if it manages to get a nom at all)

That is a lot of RPGs.

For what it's worth, Sea of Stars still has a solid shot at winning Best Indie since Silksong is probably off the table.

 

[SammyJ9]

For what it's worth, Sea of Stars still has a solid shot at winning Best Indie since Silksong is probably off the table.

Best Indie is a category I don’t really have the breadth of knowledge to guess all the nominations, what do people think for that? The ones I can think of are:

• Chained Echoes (probably not due to the December release curse)
• Sea of Stars
• A Space for the Unbound
• Blasphemous 2?
• Dave the Diver?
• That horror-y fishing game I can’t remember the name of?

 

[Vantell]

Dave the Diver will win best indie.

I think Sea of Stars or Silksong (if it comes out this year) will do that .

 

[AngryAlchemist]

However for some reason I feel like I’ve seen a LOT more RDR2 praise recently, and that combined with Ragnarok not really having staying power in discussions/leaving some people disappointed as a conclusion to 2018 kinda makes me wonder if a rerun happened RDR2 would win.

Really? I don't think so. I think if anything Red Dead Redemption 2 had much more revision to its appraisal. I mean it probably has the most famous example of the public (niche) opinion completely reversing I've ever seen since MGSV. Whereas at least with Ragnarok, the reception is still a bit too early to tell.

I feel like the popularity of NakeyJakey's RDR2 critique almost singlehandedly poisoned the well. You can't discuss the game without someone talking about how its physics are too annoying or how its missions are too linear.

 

[Phendrift]

Really? I don't think so. I think if anything Red Dead Redemption 2 had much more revision to its appraisal. I mean it probably has the most famous example of the public (niche) opinion completely reversing I've ever seen since MGSV. Whereas at least with Ragnarok, the reception is still a bit too early to tell.

I feel like the popularity of NakeyJakey's RDR2 critique almost singlehandedly poisoned the well. You can't discuss the game without someone talking about how its physics are too annoying or how its missions are too linear.

I’m kinda going by Era to be fair.

I feel like the game was dunked on there a lot for a 97 MC game upon its release for its physics and slow gameplay.

But I feel like I’ve seen quite a few threads in the past few months mainly focusing on the game’s strengths “best realized world ever in gaming” “Arthur Morgan one of gaming’s best protagonists in gaming” “still the best looking game ever”