Nominations were announced today for the Game Awards.  Here’s the six finalists for the big one, Game of the Year.


Astro Bot

Bolatro

Black Myth: Wukong

Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Metaphor: ReFantazio


So, who wins?

People who discredit the Elden Ring DLC being on this hurts my head so much. "It's not a game" and "You need to own the base game/play to this". Yet will fucking have pom poms for a remake like Silent Hill 2(Which I am not knocking, I had Resident Evil 4 Remake as my GOTY last year) or a 90's Nostalgia driven darling like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is lunacy.

Shadow of the Erdtree has great boss fights, great music, good new NPCs and enemies, new beautiful looking areas, new weapons that are so out of the ordinary from the base game.

Erdtree is my 4th place GOTY so it should not win over Metaphor or Astro Bot but to act like it's on here is a joke. This is a good list.

Persona 3 Reload getting shutout is a fucking joke though. I thought Junpei's VA was fantastic for instance. Music soundtrack was great. Deserved to be in RPG of year convo. It only got shutout so Atlus isn't allowed multiple nominees.

So great to see 5/6 GOTY candidates are from the East though. Not even close, Eastern games(Japanese/Korea/China)>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Western games.

Shadow of Erdtree is substantial enough it deserves to be recognised. Of course there's going to be disadvantages and I presume judges are going to favour other titles if only because Elden Ring has already been recognised in the past, but there's nothing wrong with including it in the discussion.

Besides what missed out? Persona 3 Reload? Dragon's Dogma 2? Unicorn Overlord? Echoes of Wisdom? Were any of these games really going to push for GOTY? I feel Reload and Metaphor going head to head kills that conversation. The others could have found their way there but as somebody who played through Echoes I did find the pacing cumbersome at times and it just needed a touch more polish when it came to QOL improvements (namely with summons, scrolling through a list of a 100 was like the Water Temple on crack). Plus some summons felt plain busted.

Maybe Helldivers II can consider itself unlucky? I like the Balatro nod, but Helldivers II seemed more significant than Wukong, at least in the west.

Nov 19, 2024 12:05:46 GMT Big Pete said:

Shadow of Erdtree is substantial enough it deserves to be recognised. Of course there's going to be disadvantages and I presume judges are going to favour other titles if only because Elden Ring has already been recognised in the past, but there's nothing wrong with including it in the discussion.

Besides what missed out? Persona 3 Reload? Dragon's Dogma 2? Unicorn Overlord? Echoes of Wisdom? Were any of these games really going to push for GOTY? I feel Reload and Metaphor going head to head kills that conversation. The others could have found their way there but as somebody who played through Echoes I did find the pacing cumbersome at times and it just needed a touch more polish when it came to QOL improvements (namely with summons, scrolling through a list of a 100 was like the Water Temple on crack). Plus some summons felt plain busted.

Maybe Helldivers II can consider itself unlucky? I like the Balatro nod, but Helldivers II seemed more significant than Wukong, at least in the west.

Bingo. I would like to see how many people who are jumping into the FF7 series with Rebirth, ignoring not just the 90's FF7 or Crisis Core or Advent Children but both FF7 Remake & Intergrade DLC. I hear the excuse that you need a CD to play Erdtree and that you need to make it to a certain point to even get into the DLC which is true. What is also true is you need to digest 60+ hours of FF7 Remake and Intergrade bare minimum to even get what is going on in FF7 Rebirth. At this point, if we are going to segregate the awards away from a DLC, might as well make it sequels don't count too/make it an original IP only award then. And again, FF7 Rebirth is 5th on my GOTY right now, awesome game. 

Silent Hill 2(A remake) was the one people seem upset about given everyone left Bloober Team for dead with their suspect catalog of games prior to this and the grumblings that them and Konami weren't on the same page. Stellar Blade as well, people really wanted to see a brand new studio(For AAA gaming) get some admiration. 

If Erdtree actually wins the award, it's a whole different animal. I don't agree with that but it has some of the best gaming experiences/moments of the year, regardless if it's a DLC/Expansion or not. 


BTW it doesn't matter who or what wins an award, my list isn't getting shaken regardless of what someone tells me what the GOTY is. FF7 Rebirth may very well win but it isn't my GOTY and that's all that matters to me. It's a silly award show.

They should pull a Lord of the Rings with FF7 and wait until it's wrapped up entirely and if it sticks the landing give it to FF7 Revolutions or whatever wanky name they give it.

Good call on Silent Hill 2, Stellar Blade could have easily come in for Black Myth but was it better than Erdtree? Like Persona 3, it's easy to compare the two and knock it down. I spose you could make the argument to recognise other studios outside of the US/Japan and with SB and Black Myth you would have had South Korea and China represented, but that conversation only goes so far.

You're 100% right, it doesn't matter - but I enjoy the conversation all the same and it's an easy way to break the ice. Personally I'm looking forward to Blindy's Top 10 although it's just a matter of whether or not Metaphor is able to clear Astro Bot.

Stellar Blade is as good as Wukong although I just got to Chapter 4 of Black Myth so I hope to get back into that one before the year is over. Think that is the halfway point of Black Myth Wukong.

My top 10 right now is probably

1) Astro Bot(Still have DLC waiting for me)
2) Metaphor: ReFantazio(I am in endgame though so if the ending sticks the landing it could flip)
3) Persona 3 Reload(Probably better for the game in my list if I didn't finish The Answer DLC since it was so close to Metaphor and it was a grindfest)
4) Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC
5) Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
6) Stellar Blade
(Black Myth Wukong but I didn't finish this)
7) Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
8) Turnip Boy Robs a Bank(Most underrated game of 2024)
9) Animal Well(Should win Indie of Year but Balatro will)
10) Famicom Detective Series: Emio the Smiling Man
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11) Nikoderiko: The Magical World(It's Donkey Kong Country new & old meets Crash Bandicoot meets Rayman Origins/Legends. You would like it System )
12) Tales of Kenzera: Zau(I really hope this game wins most Impactful award at the Game Award show, this game was caught in a terrible crossfire of being a Sweet Baby Inc. game. Game is so far from woke it's crazy, great gateway introduction to a Metroidvania. Fan of the game's creator, Abubakar Salim.)
13) Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II
14) 1000xResist(Think it's a bit overrated in the way Signalis was in being a once in a decade phenomenon but it has some great moments)
15) The Plucky Squire
16) Hellblade 2: Senua's Saga
17) Penny's Big Breakaway
18) Foamstars
19) Little Kitty Big City
20) Silent Hill: The Short Message


I have Indiana Jones in December, and want to finish one of Mario & Luigi: Brotherhood or Zelda Echoes of Wisdom. Also looking forward to Nine Sols(Game pass this month) and On Your Tail(Looks like a cool Switch Indie title).