I came across this post and thought it would make for an interesting conversation!
https://xcancel.com/CultureCrave/status/1999331400076656975
Personally, I’ve never understood Astro Bot, and seeing this list, it does feel remarkably out of place to me.
And I can’t really vouch for Clair Obscur, I just started playing it yesterday, but it does seem pretty good so far!
Overwatch aged like milk. So much goodwill was destroyed when Blizzard nuked OW1 for more extreme monetization and paywalls.
Oh, absolutely. But in the context of the year it earned its award, it’s hard to deny the massive influence it had.
I looked up the other nominees in 2016, just for reference.
- Doom – id Software
- Inside – Playdead
- Titanfall 2 – Respawn Entertainment
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End – Naughty Dog
– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_Awards_2016#Jury-voted_awards
What a stacked year it was!
Favorite is a toss-up between Sekiro and Elden Ring. Both manage to show From at the top of their game. I didn’t enjoy Astro Bot enough to expect it to be GotY, but it’s surprisingly solid. I think the big surprise was Sony basically making a Nintendo platformer.
Least favorite has to be The Last of Us 2. I get why it’s there, and a lot of the game does deserve it. I’m just unhappy at the kind of rug-pull ending that felt like all that buildup just vanished into nothing.
Overwatch is an interesting choice. Wasn’t that a Fortnite-like online game? I remember thinking it looked cool, but never played it.
Looks like they slant toward overly difficult, Souls-like games. Also a few PlayStation exclusives in there, so those aren’t an option. It Takes Two being a stand out as it’s on other platforms and isn’t known for being stupidly difficult.
So to disagree with these picks would be futile. These are games for pro gamers, for the most part, for people who do that more often and better than I do. I’ve been gaming for like 40+ years, but I’ve never been good at it. So I play games I enjoy. I’d pick the latest Animal Crossing over any of those… and I used to trash talk that game, until my wife bought it. Then she dropped it and I’ve been playing it almost every day since. For a “real” game, I’m also playing the Mass Effect legendary trilogy (remasters). I missed them when they were new. Also Blue Prince, which is more of a puzzle/indie. I suck at that, too, but at least it’s fun to lose at. I just can’t get the FOV settings just right, it gives me bad nausea.
I will say that I am glad Clair Obscur won. I don’t like Soulslike games, but the hour or so I spent in the intro before I got to the first “play DragonForce on expert, blindfolded, or die” fight, it was super enjoyable. I’m happy for those who love that game. If it had a casual/story mode, I would buy it (I played it on GamePass). Something like how Final Fantasy 16 plays.
Clair Obscur does have a story mode where you don’t have to play a rhythm game to not die. I’m still waiting for the enjoyment to kick in, though.
Overwatch was the best iteration of a role-based team shooter ever made imo. It makes sense that it won
I haaaate the combat in Clair Obscur but I’m also glad it won. I lowered the difficulty to do the post-game content and I wish I did it sooner, it makes the whole thing more enjoyable. I just wish the difficulty system was more granual - I really just wanted more forgiving parry timing
An interesting point of view for sure.
Looks like they slant toward overly difficult, Souls-like games.
I’d say that there definitely is a correlation there, but probably not causation. Game of the Year is generally awarded to games that had the most impact on the video game “ecosystem” at large (I hate calling it an “industry”, but better words are hard to find). And it seems to me that the challenge/difficulty aspect has always played an important role in the history of video games, dating at least as far back as the arcade cabinets from the 80’s.
Given that most modern games at least contain elements of challenge, and given that it is what is expected by the public at large, I guess it makes sense that these games end up being featured more.
I guess what I’m trying to say is, non-challenging games are still pretty few and far between, and they tend not to align with the factors that make games very popular among the bulk of the public.
I haven’t played them all but BG3 is my #1. I’m hoping Larian brings that same polish to the new Divinity game…and that it’s turn-based
Some great games there. I loved BOTW, God of War and LOU part 2, and I’ve been meaning to try BG3, Elden Ring and Astro Bot (and now Expedition 33). I’ll get there eventually :')
I have played none of those…
Same here.
