Game of the Year Best PlayStation 4 Exclusive Best Atmosphere Best Story Best Sound Design Best Voice Acting Best Graphics, Artistic Best Graphics, Technical Best Action ————————————————
Red Dead Redemption II
Awarded
Best Multi-Platform
Nominated
Game of the Year Best Atmosphere Best Story Best Sound Design Best Voice Acting Best Graphics, Technical Best Action ————————————————
Octopath Traveler
Awarded
Best Switch Exclusive Best RPG
Nominated
Game of the Year Best Story Best Graphics, Artistic ————————————————
This is always the hardest category for me to pick and I always spend weeks thinking about it. What makes a game better than all the others? Does it have to be revolutionary? One of a kind? Bigger than any other game? Not necessarily. GotY is usually for a game that exceeds expectations and feels solid, structured, fun, and memorable, and just stands out as a whole over any other game. This was a hard year to pick from as there were so many fantastic games that fell under these criteria.
It was really only a close call between God of War and Red Dead II this year with Spider-Man right behind them. This was one of those rare years where I had to analyze each and every piece of both games to determine the winner. They both have fantastic acting, characters, gameplay elements, and visuals. God of War however did most of this with more finesse and less experimentation. I felt the story of Kratos and Atrius cut a little deeper and I felt more attached and wanted to die to see the next cut-scene while Red Dead II was a really slow burn. The gameplay in God of War single-handedly reshaped combat for its own genre while Red Dead II just refined it. They both had large open worlds, but God of War’s was more memorable and had so much incredible detail that Red Dead just didn’t have.
Battlefield V may seem too similar to Battlefield 1, but it’s still an exemplary shooter with visuals that push boundaries, fantastic multiplayer, and a great campaign with the years of expertise from DICE behind the game.
The atmosphere in a game can be just as memorable as the story or be a character itself. Fallout 3 proved this as the Capital Wasteland was a character all on its own. A great atmosphere is something that can draw you in and make you feel a part of the world.
The atmosphere in a game is supposed to suck you into its world and make you feel exactly how the characters are feeling. God of War did this best with its cold and dark environments and massive scale levels that are out of this world. The beauty of this Norse realm was incredible to take in and each realm really made me feel like I was actually there.
The story is probably the second most important aspect of a game next to the gameplay. A good story can be memorable, impactful, controversial, enlightening, frightening, and any other emotion humans can feel. We didn’t have many games with memorable stories this year, but there were some out there that stood out.
There weren’t that many engaging stories this year, and there seems to be less and less every year, but God of War not only portrayed memorable characters, but the story Kratos goes through is very memorable and something you talk about long after the game is complete. Stories that stand the test of time are the ones that are remembered through history.
Sound design isn’t something we normally think of every day, but without great sound design we wouldn’t be as immersed in games, it’s something that’s on the back burner and never gets enough credit.
Making realistic sound can be done any day, but making sounds that don’t actually exist is a serious challenge. Every sound, breath, whisper, grunt, and weapon slash brings you into the game and helps make you feel like you’re really there. Even the voice of the World Serpent’s rumble is eerie and actually made me a little uncomfortable.
Indie games are no longer becoming cute little distractions between AAA releases, they are now becoming the AAA releases as major companies have lost their imagination and ability to create new and unique experiences. Every year this just builds up more and never falters, with many of my most memorable games being indie, you should not overlook this category.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Kingdom Come is a massive undertaking for such a small studio. With state of the art visuals and tech on top of a massive open world, great voice acting and characters, and ambitious combat, it’s not surprising it had such a rough launch, but the developers have put so much love into patching the game out, and quickly, that’s it’s almost an entirely new game now.
The best voice acting in games aren’t just the best delivery, but how it fits into the game. Is the character tortured, insane, or psychotic? Delivering the characters the way we would see them in person is how a game delivers the best voice acting.
The voice acting of Christopher Judge is just out of this world as an older Kratos. He brings the entire character to life is really rare for a video game character and I couldn’t wait to see the next cut-scene or soak in the next piece of dialog. Judge alone gave a one-dimensional character so many layers and feelings and helped suck the player into the story like no other.
Artistic graphics don’t necessarily mean the most impressive technically. They probably won’t push your system to its limits, but instead, provide a fantastic visual experience that you won’t forget.
God of War is not only one of the best looking games of all time, but the art direction is on another planet with a beautiful recreation of Norse mythology and an atmosphere that really brings you into the world and makes you feel like you’re really there. From every texture to leaf and creature, God of War is a piece of moving art.
This is one award you do not want. Many games can be disappointing due to development hell, or just a lack of inspiration. Many AAA titles and beloved franchises have fallen to disappointing depths for many a reason. While many people may agree there were other disappointing games this year, to me they weren’t depression worthy of how utterly horrid they were.
Fallout 76
There were too many disappointing games this year, but Fallout 76 made me the most upset. I’m a hardcore Fallout fan and was so stoked at the idea of a Fallout MMO as on paper it seems like the next best move. Recycle assets, use a ten-year-old game engine, and shoehorn ideas that don’t work and you get Fallout 76. A buggy, boring, and lifeless mess that probably won’t be playable even after a year of updates.
Great post tthankyou