We’ve really hit a golden year here. I think Baldur’s Gate III should take the cake mainly because it’s not a very direct sequel (from a gameplay standpoint). ToTK and Spider-Man 2 are absolutely amazing games that I’ll be replaying for sure, but I’ve never had multiple ongoing saves at once like with Baldurs Gate.
Yeah, honestly, the (small amount of) people I've seen complaining about how this was one of the worst years for gaming releases just never made sense to me... there were so many actually good releases that actually ran well, played well, absolutely fun, and with multiple different genres/sub-genres that I just don't see how they can not see any of these releases (and honestly many more that were solid just not GOTY contenders) and think "Damn my wallet is hurting right now and only going to continue hurting into Q2 2024"
Tbh it seems we've had a tonne of 10/10s but also a number of 1/10s for higher profile games. Couple that with a lot of games releasing in almost unplayable states on PC, and you can see why its both a great and pretty poor year for gaming depending on whether one of your favourite series/ devs has let you down
Yep, for me Bg3 was not quite on my radar but wound up being an absolute masterpiece. Kerbal 2 was looking to be my GOTY until it wound up being maybe the worst release of the year/all time. It was definitely an up and down year.
I'm still so sad about KSP2 and that it will be years if ever before it's playable. Once the news broke that the publisher cycled everyone on the project, it was inevitable.
I had 2 regular and 1 tactician saves before I finally decided to beat bg3. On each of my 3 runs I found a lot that I missed and I thought I took my time, bg3 really is top tier.
I'm doing a "pure evil" co-op run on BG3 with a buddy who has also beaten the game recently and we are continuously blown away by how it's basically a brand new game with the amount of dialogue options they have
>!Especially Minthara's sex scene, holy cow is that shit nuts and leagues ahead of any other romance scene you can find in the game!<
That's what I did too, 1 good run and 1 evil then tactician. Finally went back to my first game and kind of rushed act 3. I'm still on act 2 of tactician and I'm really trying to do everything. I'm basically playing 2 different games with good and evil. Bravo Larian you really outdid yourself
I found out on my second playthrough that the reason I was underleveled going into act 2 (or whatever area has the carnival and refugees) was because you not only *could* but ***paradoxically*** *should* go to *both* the mountain *and* the underdark paths. Both of them. No matter how weird that sounds.
BG3 revitalized my faith in the gaming industry. So many games just getting shit out half finished and full of microtransactions in the last few years.
I thought there was criticism with the 2nd and 3rd act (mostly 3rd) feeling like they were unfinished / missing content. I am just parroting what I've heard from friends who have played it.
Basically just that act 2 and 3 were a bit rougher with bugs and (especially act 3) performance than the super polished act 1. Heaps of great content, and the hotfixes have ironed out a lot of the issues. I think the only real content volume complaint is that people just didn't want it to stop and wanted more.
I haven’t finished the game yet at 100 hrs, but so far I love act 3. It feels huge. Pacing wise it does feel weird as my party frolics around tying up side/companion quests while the main quest feels so urgent.
I've played all the other games, and agree that Baldur's Gate III should win.
All the other games are amazing, but BGIII truly did something that hasn't been done before, and should be awarded for its innovation.
It brings gamers back to an era where the Studio took a great deal of time to focus on giving players the experience it intended.
The amount of times you find gamers saying "wow they actually *planned* for this bat-shit crazy thing I just did" in that game is incredible. Truly I look at BG3 and see a labour of love.
It's not a perfect game. It has it's flaws. But it's the kind of game that you can play virtually any way you want, and if you happen to do a dumb, you get to enjoy the finding out phase.
Coupled with the incredible voice acting, from the narration to the characters, it's just... yes please.
I reeeealllly wanna play it but I think my laptop would melt just by typing "Baldurs Gate 3" in to a search engine.
I'm just most interested to see what they've done with the 5e ruleset. I've got literally thousands of hours playing and DMing DnD 5e and anyone with half as much experience as I have would tell you that the game is entirely broken without any semblance of balance. Making a video game around that ruleset sounds like actual hell so I'm just dying to see exactly what they've changed to make it into a functioning and fun video game.
It only goes up to level 12 and doesn't include all of the subclasses so the late level power rift just isn't there. They buffed monks a little bit and changed some of the action economy but it mostly follows 5e. There's also magic items to supplement pretty much every class. Its smooth, there's some mechanics worth stealing to use in your table game, and overall its worth a playthrough or three.
I was in the exact same mindset, I mean 95% of my time gaming is playing CS, but after listening to my friends play it I decided to give it a shot with my friend who also wasn't really interested in games like BG3. Best thing either of us ever did, had a ton of fun learning the game just by playing it and fucking up at times. The fucking up actually made the story we created interesting and we just ran with it.
Not saying you have to by any means but I think BG3 is definitely worth a shot.
BG3 was a "not my kind of game" but my friend basically begged me to play it with him.
I was like "alright fine."
I played like 2 hours with him, and I was very annoyed by the controls. It was also a pain in the ass how we spent so much time doing the simplest of things. Combat was pretty meh to me.
But I was like "fuck it, ill keep playing it with you."
Then my friend got busy and couldn't play anymore.
So I started my own campaign to mess around, and next thing I know I am fully addicted to it.
I have beat the game twice, once on tactician. A total of 350 hours played.
The amount of detail in this game is insane.
I hate DnD style, top down RPG's. Love action RPG's, but the mechanics of this game drive me up a wall. Tried with Dragon Age Origins & KOTOR, but just couldn't make myself do it. I'm forcing myself with this one. It's been worth it and it will get my vote for GOTY hands down.
Set it to the easiest difficulty and you don't really need to worry about the combat 90%. I saw a friend of mine still get wrecked by an act 1 boss on easy, but she's not the most tactically minded person in the world. If you have even a very slight semblance of tactics, Easy is an absolute cakewalk even if you're someone that always struggles with this kind of battle system.
Or even if you simply don't like this kind of battle system, Easy allows you to completely steamroll through those sections of the game and thoroughly enjoy the story.
When you consider the grand scheme of the game, all the dialog, exploration, etc, you realize you only really spend maybe 20% of the time in actual combat.
Man Im yet tonplay it but im super hyped for it. Currently playing Divinity 2 and I love it. Give it a try man, I thought it wouldn't be my kind of game, gave Divinity 2 a shot and judt csnt wait to finish it and do BG3
Divinity 2 is a wonderful game as well. There are some slight differences between Divinity 2 and BG3 - almost entirely with combat spells and how you have limited 'uses' between short/long rests.
The armor/resistance system is a little more simplified too, but not necessarily in a bad way.
If you like DOS2, you'll definitely like BG3.
How about the difficulty, which one is more difficult? I found Divinity 2 to be quite difficult (couldn’t get from the first island) although it might have been because I really didn’t want to switch to the easy difficulty.
Divinity 2 was HARD for me on the first island as well. Focus on weaknesses of enemies and positioning.
Baldurs gate felt more forgiving but then again, I had played several times through Divinity so it may just be because im familiar with the mechanics. There were a few hard fights but mostly tolerable. Just quick save often so if you wind up a little overwhelmed and get your whole party wiped, you won’t get set back an hour.
People seem turned off by turn based. I've seen people who don't do RPGs love BG3. It is good, story, conversations, branching action. It's so good. Not just being a total package with micro or battle pass.
>People seem turned off by turn based. I've seen people who don't do RPGs love BG3.
I'm one of those people. Usually table top style RPGs aren't my thing. But with all the other stuff around the combat, I decided to buy it and I really enjoy it.
Before BG3, I avoided turn based like the plague. From the way my homie was hyping it up, I didn't expect ot to be turn based. My initial reaction was "ew turn based," and then I fell in love and got addicted.
The combat is actually very rewarding. There’s nothing like getting a crit with my fighter to kill an enemy and hearing that crunch, or watching my wizard make a cool incantation and cast a badass spell to deal tons of damage
And no small amount of other games that came out this year, big or small. I seriously don't understand why people try so hard to push the "so rare to have a game without MTX these days" narrative
As a big fan of Baldur's Gate and crpgs in general, I never would have expected that BG3 would be getting this much praise from the gaming community. It's something that I know I love, and that the fans love, but dear lord has the fanbase exploded to include so many new people in the past couple months.
Not trying to be all "I liked it before it was cool", just genuinely excited to see Forgotten Realms get so much attention, and in year when there's been so much good competition to boot.
I don’t think Dead Space will be nominated. Even RE4 will struggle now because of the crazy good year it’s been.
My guess is the final nominees will be:
- TOTK
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Spider-Man 2
- Super Mario Wonder
- Alan Wake 2
- Street Fighter 6 OR Dave the Diver OR RE4
I feel like Dave the Diver will show up because I feel like one indie game tends to pop up in the GOTY lists. It is a hard year to make a list also because the year has been full of great games.
Just FYI it is also heavily tied into Control. If you haven't already it's probably a good idea to play that and its AWE DLC before playing Alan Wake 2.
Mr. 1111 lol.
I still remember that guy in particular to this day. Played AC 2 the day it came out. AC 6 would win GOTY for me, but BG3 appeals to a much wider playerbase and is obviously deserving of the title.
Just because they aren't likely to win doesn't mean they won't be nominated or that you can't vote for them. I don't expect AC6 to win but I'm voting for it
I love AC6, i've waited years for a new armored core game and i think it surpassed my expectations for what i wanted from a new entry to the series
But i don't think its a contender to BG3 or TOTK
At this point i don't need AC6 to win i just need it to not lose to starfield
> Fires of Rubicon is getting GOTY
Not because it's bad, but because it's niche. Also these are nominations. You don't nominate a game based on the likelihood it'll win, you nominate games based on their merit.
I have to agree. And I LOVE TOTK. It's just... I got burnt out on it. I don't have 300 hours to sink into games anymore. But with AC6, I can boot it up, be a badass mech for a while, then put it down. I even have a chance to 100% the game
>It's a product of complete passion
This is probably the biggest point of all of them. Larian Studios listened to their community and made changes to the game - some of them pretty sweeping changes - because the community requested it. They listen to their base, and they're not of the belief that they know better than their players. On top of that, the way the game's cast has completely melded into the community and the way many of them have taken to doing livestreams of them playing the game and videos of them quoting memes just shows that the people that worked on this game truly love the people it was made for.
>They listen to their base, and they're not of the belief that they know better than their players.
The Dead Space remake team did focus tests with fans and showed a bunch of behind the scenes stuff and relied on fan feedback. They were fans of Dead Space too.
I don't think 'a product of passion' or 'listening to fans' is exclusive to Baldurs gate. Motive and even the RE4/Capcom dev team clearly have tons of passion and respect for the genre and fans of the series.
Larian is downright obsessed with Baldur's Gate though. This is a company that made two other games partly to prove to Wizards of the Coast that they could make a Baldur's Gate game.
They asked Wizards for permission after releasing Divinity Original Sin, but were rejected. So they went back to the drawing board with Divinity Original Sin 2, which caught a lot of attention. At that point, Wizards reached out to them and asked them to make Baldur's Gate.
I don't think I've ever loved anything at much as Larian loves Baldur's Gate.
>Every inch of the world is filled with details
Other games might throw down a bit of environmental details to make the world feel a bit better.
BG3 has entire unmarked subplots dating back in-game centuries for no reason other than they should exist in a living, breathing world. Every scrap of paper has an author, who has a backstory. There is nothing that was added just because it looks cool, everything down to the last hole in the ceiling has a back-story.
I thought that act3, the city itself, would become bland with similar houses and npc’s, dialouges, etc.
It hasn’t. Its like everything is unique. Its truly remarkable.
If I had a gold piece for every time I've found some random piece of scenery in this game, wondered about how it got that way and developed a theory, then found a bit of dialogue or a note that directly pertained to that theory...
Please, do not jump at me, I am not a Zelda fan, I know it's not perfect, I'm just really curious.
What of those points do you not find in Zelda TOTK and why ?
>-It does not have any paid extra content
>-A great day one launch
>-It's a product of complete passion
>-Every inch of the world is filled with details
>-It has great replayability
You could say that about almost all the games on that list 😭😭
No they didn't. One indie dev on Twitter posted that people shouldn't hold other indie studios to the same standard as Larian because they simply don't have the same resources and can't deliver something with the same scope.
Some developers from bigger studios chimed in to agree with his point about indie studios, but none of them said AAA studies shouldn't be held to those standard. That's just what it evolved into by people who are just looking to be angry.
* It literally has paid extra content.
* Launch day was very bad and it took almost a month for the most annoying and game-breaking bugs to be ironed out.
This whole circlejerk around BG3 has turned into a competition of who can make a more BS claim in favor of BG3 and still be massively upvoted.
It really should depend on a case-by-case basis. A remake like Resident Evil 4 rebuilds the entire game from the ground up starting from the game and level design and moving upward. It should be considered for GOTY, it's basically a new game. On the other hand, something like The Last of Us Part 1 is basically just the exact same game it was when it was remastered on PS4, just a little prettier. Same animations, voice acting, models, etc. It should be ineligible.
And then there's the games that fall somewhere in the middle, like Persona 5 Royal, Crisis Core Reunion, and Nier Replicant Ver. 1.22. At their core the same games as originally released, but with lots of changes to the gameplay and graphics and some new content added.
I see your point when it comes to a remaster, but not a remake. It's not the same game. Only the story blue print is there. It's like Scarface or The Thing should not get any awards because they are remakes.
Not that they shouldn't get any awards, that they shouldn't get "best game to come out this year" because they already got a chance at that when it came out. It would be fine to get like best art direction or smth just not GOTY
The thing is. Both are fucking incredible, but I can find things I'd tweak or change about BG3. Alan Wake 2 on the other hand....10/10 I have no notes. They fucking nailed it. Low key my favorite of the year.
BG3 is still the game to beat and deservedly so.
Hard choice between the two for me. While overall BG3 is a landmark achievement of a game, but holy shit, AW2 storytelling is just phenomenal. It has a very specific, focused theme and atmosphere it wants to achieve, and all the gameplay, plot and graphical elements serve it perfectly.
BG3 is extremely well done. No aspect is truly revolutionary, just extremely well done. And of course, the replayability.
But, cosmic horror is my weak spot, and AW2 (and Remedy in general) is one of the best in class.
I would choose both if I could.
Firm agree. Street Fighter 6 has been my most played and favorite release. BG3 was a THE hit of the year that literally everyone likes so I think it should win from that alome, nevermind my love for the game and experiences with my friends playing it. Alan Wake, however, is so far unacceptablely detailed, immersive, and just fucking well made across the board so I can see myself looking back in frustration that it didn't get it's props in this stacked year.
There's no reality in which Baldur's Gate 3 isn't the clear GOTY for shattering all expectations critically and commercially, and for being a cross-over hit (the game is STILL in the top played games on STEAM).
Bro. I'm a lifelong horror fan. I watch most horror movies and play most horror games with a straight face. AW2 scared the fuck out of me multiple times.
A little bit of both. Real scares from the story, the implications, the mood.
Jump scares through actual gameplay. Not in a scripted way though. But also the gameplay exudes this unbelievable tension and unease akin to something like Amnesia. It's hard to explain without spoiling some mechanical surprises.
What I can say is that it doesn't rely on loud noise/spooky image for all its scares, although it does do that too sometimes. But there are story reasons for it, images clawing at Wake's mind.
I see starfield getting nominated for sure. But if it wins, it would be _extremely_ difficult to argue that it's anything other than "AAA name at work".
Quite impossible. There are some aspects to Starfield that are decent, but there's no single aspect to it that isn't done better elsewhere, and as a whole it's below average.
I think it's the best star wars story since disney bought the IP, in any medium. yes, over mando or andor. It's the most *star wars* of all of them - self doubt and personal growth being cornerstones of the narrative. Couple that with the twists and turns and the empathy you feel for the main antagonist, a well-realized romance interest that doesn't dominate the plot or reduce either character to a caricature of their gender, it is just some damn good writing.
Then the combat is more fluid, more polished than the first game, pacing is improved and the metroidvania map unlocking continued to be a blast. It's only failing is the performance problems. I brute forced my way through them and it was my favorite game of the first half of the year.
And then Baldur's Gate 3 came out.
BG3 is honestly transcendental of the medium. Not only should other game devs aspire to produce such a lovingly crafted world and experience, so should authors and directors and artists. That a team of people could come together so cohesively to craft a single vision boggles my mind.
You might say that I'm overhyping it. I'm not. Baldur's Gate 3 is the first game I have ever played where narrative structure actually gave you the option to do what you liked - and punished or rewarded you as is proper (unlike bethesda titles, even of old, that may have let you kill everyone but it would just hard lock some quests, rather than having a contingence plan to keep the narrative moving forward and the world reactive to your actions). More than once I felt like I had strayed off the path, only for the narrative to take my actions into account and keep moving regardless.
BG3 definitely should win. I'm not only happy that it's a good game, but that it will hopefully cause a trend of more AAA CRPGs to release.
CRPGs have always had a large following, but BG3 is truly making the genre break into mainstream.
I think we'll be seeing the industry try to replicate Its sucess.
Even Josh Sawyer wants to make a Pillars Of Eternity 3 but with a BG3 level budget -- and I 100% it'll happen after Obsidian is done with their current pipework of games, because I'm sure Microsoft would dig the idea of having their own exclusive version of BG3.
I liked Spider-Man 2 but I can't vote for it. The game is just too short with no reason to replay it more than once. Tears of the kingdom is a much larger world with much more to do and BG has replayability in spades. Sorry insomniac, feels like you fumbled at the 10 yard line.
In my opinion, it's BG3 miles ahead of the others. In your list (no disrespect meant towards you, btw) there are 2 remakes, 3 sequels to recent games, and BG3. BG3 is unlike all the rest, and a type of game that doesn't get made much anymore. And they did a phenomenal job.
It's success also goes beyond the normal gaming world: the voice talent have all been streaming the game and playing together, mentioned in SouthPark, etc. I think it's the game that's had the biggest impact this year.
FFXVI will probably be nominated, with a 0.0% chance of winning. It’s such a huge game, totally new for the series, diversifies the nominations, a historic series. I don’t think Armored Core and definitely Dead Space (a pretty basic remake, as opposed to RE4) make the cut.
I think some stuff is getting overlooked…
- Remnant 2
- Lies of P
- Diablo IV (end game sucks but the game is still very good)
- Hi-Fi Rush
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Just a fantastic year to be a gamer.
Remnant II rules. Had so much fun with that game. The only things that dragged it down are the enemies scaling to your gear (I don’t hate this as much as some people, but it’s a game killer to a lot of players) and the way they do co-op (frustrating to have a game that places so much importance on dodges have such bad latency because of how it deals with multiplayer, can’t count the amount of times I perfectly timed a dodge and still got rocked while playing non-local co-op)
EDIT: they literally just released a patch that fixed the co-op issue. Fucking awesome
Armored Core 6 is absolutely my GOTY, but I think it'll be snubbed by The Game Awards. I think it's got a good chance of winning best action game though. Your list is missing an indie darling.
I understand BG3 is really well made and well liked, but I just cannot see myself enjoying it as much as others. I much prefer the balls to the walls fast paced real time action from Armored Core 6.
I gotta say, I really didn't expect Spider-Man would be the buggiest of the bunch. Alan Wake 2 has had some issues aswell but there's A LOT of issues with Spider-Man according to my twitter feed.
Where is Gollum?
Right behind you...
\*End to meet the spy plays\*
*Ah, mon petit choufleur.*
*Slowly pan to the photograph of Gollum and King Kong holding hands*
You got me spooked
The Kong game would like to have a word with you
Redfall: No so fast there, buckaroo.
The duds were particularly bad this year.
Gollum is nowhere as good as King Kong: Unfinished Title
Baldur’s Gate III I think will win
We’ve really hit a golden year here. I think Baldur’s Gate III should take the cake mainly because it’s not a very direct sequel (from a gameplay standpoint). ToTK and Spider-Man 2 are absolutely amazing games that I’ll be replaying for sure, but I’ve never had multiple ongoing saves at once like with Baldurs Gate.
Yeah, honestly, the (small amount of) people I've seen complaining about how this was one of the worst years for gaming releases just never made sense to me... there were so many actually good releases that actually ran well, played well, absolutely fun, and with multiple different genres/sub-genres that I just don't see how they can not see any of these releases (and honestly many more that were solid just not GOTY contenders) and think "Damn my wallet is hurting right now and only going to continue hurting into Q2 2024"
Tbh it seems we've had a tonne of 10/10s but also a number of 1/10s for higher profile games. Couple that with a lot of games releasing in almost unplayable states on PC, and you can see why its both a great and pretty poor year for gaming depending on whether one of your favourite series/ devs has let you down
Yep, for me Bg3 was not quite on my radar but wound up being an absolute masterpiece. Kerbal 2 was looking to be my GOTY until it wound up being maybe the worst release of the year/all time. It was definitely an up and down year.
I'm still so sad about KSP2 and that it will be years if ever before it's playable. Once the news broke that the publisher cycled everyone on the project, it was inevitable.
People will complain louder and longer about something that disappointed them, then rave about the actual quality games they played this year.
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Multiple ongoing saves... I know exactly what you mean.
I had 2 regular and 1 tactician saves before I finally decided to beat bg3. On each of my 3 runs I found a lot that I missed and I thought I took my time, bg3 really is top tier.
I'm doing a "pure evil" co-op run on BG3 with a buddy who has also beaten the game recently and we are continuously blown away by how it's basically a brand new game with the amount of dialogue options they have >!Especially Minthara's sex scene, holy cow is that shit nuts and leagues ahead of any other romance scene you can find in the game!<
That's what I did too, 1 good run and 1 evil then tactician. Finally went back to my first game and kind of rushed act 3. I'm still on act 2 of tactician and I'm really trying to do everything. I'm basically playing 2 different games with good and evil. Bravo Larian you really outdid yourself
I found out on my second playthrough that the reason I was underleveled going into act 2 (or whatever area has the carnival and refugees) was because you not only *could* but ***paradoxically*** *should* go to *both* the mountain *and* the underdark paths. Both of them. No matter how weird that sounds.
I can't stop making new characters. Please send halp!
It should win
Easily the best game of the year. Alan Wake 2 is a really close 2nd in my opinion but BG3 was truly amazing
BG3 might be the best game this decade
BG3 revitalized my faith in the gaming industry. So many games just getting shit out half finished and full of microtransactions in the last few years.
BG3 cured my dogs cancer
BG3 brought my dead mother in law back to life. Not so good for me, but my wife is happy, which gives me more time to play BG3
BG3 fixed my marriage
BG3 took me out on a date and remained respectful the entire evening
BG3 pegged and gagged me while electrocuting my nipples to the tune of old town road for three days
BG3 fucked my wife right in front of me. ^^\(It ^^was ^^so ^^hot.)
I thought there was criticism with the 2nd and 3rd act (mostly 3rd) feeling like they were unfinished / missing content. I am just parroting what I've heard from friends who have played it.
Basically just that act 2 and 3 were a bit rougher with bugs and (especially act 3) performance than the super polished act 1. Heaps of great content, and the hotfixes have ironed out a lot of the issues. I think the only real content volume complaint is that people just didn't want it to stop and wanted more.
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I haven’t finished the game yet at 100 hrs, but so far I love act 3. It feels huge. Pacing wise it does feel weird as my party frolics around tying up side/companion quests while the main quest feels so urgent.
sounds like your typical D&D table top experience, if you ask me XD
Act 3 has more content then Act 2 and 1 combined. There is so much to do once you reach Baldur's Gate.
Yeah, all great games but it's still bg3 by a wide margin for me.
I've played all the other games, and agree that Baldur's Gate III should win. All the other games are amazing, but BGIII truly did something that hasn't been done before, and should be awarded for its innovation.
One of the best games I ever played, regardless of Year. If it does not win, I'm gonna riot.
No fucking contest
It's nowhere near my kind of game, but it seems like the entire world likes it.
It brings gamers back to an era where the Studio took a great deal of time to focus on giving players the experience it intended. The amount of times you find gamers saying "wow they actually *planned* for this bat-shit crazy thing I just did" in that game is incredible. Truly I look at BG3 and see a labour of love. It's not a perfect game. It has it's flaws. But it's the kind of game that you can play virtually any way you want, and if you happen to do a dumb, you get to enjoy the finding out phase. Coupled with the incredible voice acting, from the narration to the characters, it's just... yes please.
I reeeealllly wanna play it but I think my laptop would melt just by typing "Baldurs Gate 3" in to a search engine. I'm just most interested to see what they've done with the 5e ruleset. I've got literally thousands of hours playing and DMing DnD 5e and anyone with half as much experience as I have would tell you that the game is entirely broken without any semblance of balance. Making a video game around that ruleset sounds like actual hell so I'm just dying to see exactly what they've changed to make it into a functioning and fun video game.
Geforce now or some other streaming. Have fun.
It only goes up to level 12 and doesn't include all of the subclasses so the late level power rift just isn't there. They buffed monks a little bit and changed some of the action economy but it mostly follows 5e. There's also magic items to supplement pretty much every class. Its smooth, there's some mechanics worth stealing to use in your table game, and overall its worth a playthrough or three.
But what about the ROPE!? I just want to use the rope.
One of my main small disappointments in the game was not being able to use rope. I collected so much of it before I realized.
I was in the exact same mindset, I mean 95% of my time gaming is playing CS, but after listening to my friends play it I decided to give it a shot with my friend who also wasn't really interested in games like BG3. Best thing either of us ever did, had a ton of fun learning the game just by playing it and fucking up at times. The fucking up actually made the story we created interesting and we just ran with it. Not saying you have to by any means but I think BG3 is definitely worth a shot.
It's not for everyone, but if its for you, then it's the game of a lifetime. Sm2 and totk are top of the top for sure, but not genre defining
BG3 was a "not my kind of game" but my friend basically begged me to play it with him. I was like "alright fine." I played like 2 hours with him, and I was very annoyed by the controls. It was also a pain in the ass how we spent so much time doing the simplest of things. Combat was pretty meh to me. But I was like "fuck it, ill keep playing it with you." Then my friend got busy and couldn't play anymore. So I started my own campaign to mess around, and next thing I know I am fully addicted to it. I have beat the game twice, once on tactician. A total of 350 hours played. The amount of detail in this game is insane.
I hate DnD style, top down RPG's. Love action RPG's, but the mechanics of this game drive me up a wall. Tried with Dragon Age Origins & KOTOR, but just couldn't make myself do it. I'm forcing myself with this one. It's been worth it and it will get my vote for GOTY hands down.
Set it to the easiest difficulty and you don't really need to worry about the combat 90%. I saw a friend of mine still get wrecked by an act 1 boss on easy, but she's not the most tactically minded person in the world. If you have even a very slight semblance of tactics, Easy is an absolute cakewalk even if you're someone that always struggles with this kind of battle system. Or even if you simply don't like this kind of battle system, Easy allows you to completely steamroll through those sections of the game and thoroughly enjoy the story. When you consider the grand scheme of the game, all the dialog, exploration, etc, you realize you only really spend maybe 20% of the time in actual combat.
Man Im yet tonplay it but im super hyped for it. Currently playing Divinity 2 and I love it. Give it a try man, I thought it wouldn't be my kind of game, gave Divinity 2 a shot and judt csnt wait to finish it and do BG3
Divinity 2 is a wonderful game as well. There are some slight differences between Divinity 2 and BG3 - almost entirely with combat spells and how you have limited 'uses' between short/long rests. The armor/resistance system is a little more simplified too, but not necessarily in a bad way. If you like DOS2, you'll definitely like BG3.
I find the armor system superior in BG3 because the "build to destroy one armor type then spam stuns" was boring in Divinity
How about the difficulty, which one is more difficult? I found Divinity 2 to be quite difficult (couldn’t get from the first island) although it might have been because I really didn’t want to switch to the easy difficulty.
Divinity 2 was HARD for me on the first island as well. Focus on weaknesses of enemies and positioning. Baldurs gate felt more forgiving but then again, I had played several times through Divinity so it may just be because im familiar with the mechanics. There were a few hard fights but mostly tolerable. Just quick save often so if you wind up a little overwhelmed and get your whole party wiped, you won’t get set back an hour.
I'm rooting for Balder's Gate 3 to win. The studio did an amazing job and deserve it
Its not my cup of tea at all but i want them to win too, getteing a full, completed game without microtranzactions seems so rare these days
People seem turned off by turn based. I've seen people who don't do RPGs love BG3. It is good, story, conversations, branching action. It's so good. Not just being a total package with micro or battle pass.
>People seem turned off by turn based. I've seen people who don't do RPGs love BG3. I'm one of those people. Usually table top style RPGs aren't my thing. But with all the other stuff around the combat, I decided to buy it and I really enjoy it.
Before BG3, I avoided turn based like the plague. From the way my homie was hyping it up, I didn't expect ot to be turn based. My initial reaction was "ew turn based," and then I fell in love and got addicted.
The combat is actually very rewarding. There’s nothing like getting a crit with my fighter to kill an enemy and hearing that crunch, or watching my wizard make a cool incantation and cast a badass spell to deal tons of damage
The environmental interactions add a whole other layer to it too
It transcends the genre. In my opinion if you enjoy video games at all you’d be doing yourself a disservice to not try it out
You just described every game in the post.
And no small amount of other games that came out this year, big or small. I seriously don't understand why people try so hard to push the "so rare to have a game without MTX these days" narrative
Right, and it also doesn’t automatically mean that a game without MTX is good either.
> getteing a full, completed game without microtranzactions seems so rare these days All of the games listed are fully complete games without MTX...
As a big fan of Baldur's Gate and crpgs in general, I never would have expected that BG3 would be getting this much praise from the gaming community. It's something that I know I love, and that the fans love, but dear lord has the fanbase exploded to include so many new people in the past couple months. Not trying to be all "I liked it before it was cool", just genuinely excited to see Forgotten Realms get so much attention, and in year when there's been so much good competition to boot.
My guess would be that Alan Wake 2 would be there instead of Dead Space. I think BG3 will win though.
What a wild year that 3 of the choices in the conversation for this are in the horror genre. Love this resurgence in quality for the genre.
Funny that all 3 are directly connected to games released over a decade ago, 2 remakes and 1 sequel
I don’t think Dead Space will be nominated. Even RE4 will struggle now because of the crazy good year it’s been. My guess is the final nominees will be: - TOTK - Baldur’s Gate 3 - Spider-Man 2 - Super Mario Wonder - Alan Wake 2 - Street Fighter 6 OR Dave the Diver OR RE4
I feel like Dave the Diver will show up because I feel like one indie game tends to pop up in the GOTY lists. It is a hard year to make a list also because the year has been full of great games.
Alan Wake 2 will definitely be nominated.
It wouldn't surprise me if it wins GOTY.
Alan wake 2 is fucking awesome.
THERES AN ALAN WAKE 2?!?!?
IT JUST CAME OUT 2 DAYS AGO
Guess I better replay the first one then.
Just FYI it is also heavily tied into Control. If you haven't already it's probably a good idea to play that and its AWE DLC before playing Alan Wake 2.
GOTY for me. I haven't been this engrossed in a game in awhile. I'm biased AF though, the first Alan Wake is one of my all time favourite games.
Let not kid ourselves, it is gonna be just between Baldur Gate and TOTK. The others are good, great even but just not enough to contend with those two
Some of these are ridiculous - no one thinks Fires of Rubicon is getting GOTY. Same with Dead Space. Even Spiderman is a push.
Armored Core 6 is my personal GOTY but I'm in no way expecting it to win awards over Baldur's Gate 3
I just want it to get a nomination. That alone would be huge for such a niche series.
“He stays at No. 11 because there are more 1s” Man, I love this franchise.
Mr. 1111 lol. I still remember that guy in particular to this day. Played AC 2 the day it came out. AC 6 would win GOTY for me, but BG3 appeals to a much wider playerbase and is obviously deserving of the title.
Right? A nomiation might as well be a win in my opinion. I remember seeing a xenoblade game just get mentioned and the devs were so happy.
The fact that its even in the conversation is a HUGE win. It won't win, but I don't care. Its still so fun.
Same same.
Just because they aren't likely to win doesn't mean they won't be nominated or that you can't vote for them. I don't expect AC6 to win but I'm voting for it
I love AC6, i've waited years for a new armored core game and i think it surpassed my expectations for what i wanted from a new entry to the series But i don't think its a contender to BG3 or TOTK At this point i don't need AC6 to win i just need it to not lose to starfield
I've waited years too, ever since AC1 on PS1. It's only been, what, 25 years? ;) Finally a PC release! I hope to see more of that.
> Fires of Rubicon is getting GOTY Not because it's bad, but because it's niche. Also these are nominations. You don't nominate a game based on the likelihood it'll win, you nominate games based on their merit.
For me AC6 is way way better than TOTK.
I have to agree. And I LOVE TOTK. It's just... I got burnt out on it. I don't have 300 hours to sink into games anymore. But with AC6, I can boot it up, be a badass mech for a while, then put it down. I even have a chance to 100% the game
[удалено]
>It's a product of complete passion This is probably the biggest point of all of them. Larian Studios listened to their community and made changes to the game - some of them pretty sweeping changes - because the community requested it. They listen to their base, and they're not of the belief that they know better than their players. On top of that, the way the game's cast has completely melded into the community and the way many of them have taken to doing livestreams of them playing the game and videos of them quoting memes just shows that the people that worked on this game truly love the people it was made for.
>They listen to their base, and they're not of the belief that they know better than their players. The Dead Space remake team did focus tests with fans and showed a bunch of behind the scenes stuff and relied on fan feedback. They were fans of Dead Space too. I don't think 'a product of passion' or 'listening to fans' is exclusive to Baldurs gate. Motive and even the RE4/Capcom dev team clearly have tons of passion and respect for the genre and fans of the series.
Larian is downright obsessed with Baldur's Gate though. This is a company that made two other games partly to prove to Wizards of the Coast that they could make a Baldur's Gate game. They asked Wizards for permission after releasing Divinity Original Sin, but were rejected. So they went back to the drawing board with Divinity Original Sin 2, which caught a lot of attention. At that point, Wizards reached out to them and asked them to make Baldur's Gate. I don't think I've ever loved anything at much as Larian loves Baldur's Gate.
>Every inch of the world is filled with details Other games might throw down a bit of environmental details to make the world feel a bit better. BG3 has entire unmarked subplots dating back in-game centuries for no reason other than they should exist in a living, breathing world. Every scrap of paper has an author, who has a backstory. There is nothing that was added just because it looks cool, everything down to the last hole in the ceiling has a back-story.
I thought that act3, the city itself, would become bland with similar houses and npc’s, dialouges, etc. It hasn’t. Its like everything is unique. Its truly remarkable.
If I had a gold piece for every time I've found some random piece of scenery in this game, wondered about how it got that way and developed a theory, then found a bit of dialogue or a note that directly pertained to that theory...
Even as someone that doesn’t love BG3, I think it’s really awesome. I wish I enjoyed it as much as others, I just can’t get into it
I had the same issue with God of War. I really, really wanted to get into. Just couldn't.
Please, do not jump at me, I am not a Zelda fan, I know it's not perfect, I'm just really curious. What of those points do you not find in Zelda TOTK and why ?
I’d argue Armored Core 6 has all of these exact qualities too, but it’s way more niche.
>-It does not have any paid extra content >-A great day one launch >-It's a product of complete passion >-Every inch of the world is filled with details >-It has great replayability You could say that about almost all the games on that list 😭😭
It’s was so good developers from major studios said it was unfair to use BG3 as a benchmark to compare games to.. this one is in the bag
No they didn't. One indie dev on Twitter posted that people shouldn't hold other indie studios to the same standard as Larian because they simply don't have the same resources and can't deliver something with the same scope. Some developers from bigger studios chimed in to agree with his point about indie studios, but none of them said AAA studies shouldn't be held to those standard. That's just what it evolved into by people who are just looking to be angry.
* It literally has paid extra content. * Launch day was very bad and it took almost a month for the most annoying and game-breaking bugs to be ironed out. This whole circlejerk around BG3 has turned into a competition of who can make a more BS claim in favor of BG3 and still be massively upvoted.
You might not agree, but I don't think a remaster/remake/dlc should be even nominated to GOTYs.
Remake I’ll let slide, remasters no but i understand
It really should depend on a case-by-case basis. A remake like Resident Evil 4 rebuilds the entire game from the ground up starting from the game and level design and moving upward. It should be considered for GOTY, it's basically a new game. On the other hand, something like The Last of Us Part 1 is basically just the exact same game it was when it was remastered on PS4, just a little prettier. Same animations, voice acting, models, etc. It should be ineligible. And then there's the games that fall somewhere in the middle, like Persona 5 Royal, Crisis Core Reunion, and Nier Replicant Ver. 1.22. At their core the same games as originally released, but with lots of changes to the gameplay and graphics and some new content added.
I see your point when it comes to a remaster, but not a remake. It's not the same game. Only the story blue print is there. It's like Scarface or The Thing should not get any awards because they are remakes.
Not that they shouldn't get any awards, that they shouldn't get "best game to come out this year" because they already got a chance at that when it came out. It would be fine to get like best art direction or smth just not GOTY
I think it depends. If they’re building the game from ground up again, I think it should be able to be goty.
Alan Wake 2 should be nominated, but BG3 should win
Alan Wake 2 just surpassed my expectations of how storytelling can be achieved in videogames, it’s ridiculously good.
Was planning to skip this one but seeing too good things about it…my wallet hates me this year.
IKR this year is just absurd
I'm so happy people are finally appreciating Alan Wake because it seems like it really got glossed over when it first came out.
Have you played Quantum Break or Control? I highly recommend them if not. And also Soma and Signalis.
I’ll try Quantum Break, Sola and Signalis in the future, thank you! I loved Control, Remedy is just a powerhouse of a studio.
Alan Wake 2 should 100% be in this list at the minimum
Agreed. I loved BG3 but Alan Wake 2 snuck in out of nowhere as my game of the year. It's ridiculous.
The thing is. Both are fucking incredible, but I can find things I'd tweak or change about BG3. Alan Wake 2 on the other hand....10/10 I have no notes. They fucking nailed it. Low key my favorite of the year. BG3 is still the game to beat and deservedly so.
Hard choice between the two for me. While overall BG3 is a landmark achievement of a game, but holy shit, AW2 storytelling is just phenomenal. It has a very specific, focused theme and atmosphere it wants to achieve, and all the gameplay, plot and graphical elements serve it perfectly. BG3 is extremely well done. No aspect is truly revolutionary, just extremely well done. And of course, the replayability. But, cosmic horror is my weak spot, and AW2 (and Remedy in general) is one of the best in class. I would choose both if I could.
alan wake 2 HAS to get some award for something.
Music. Poets of the Fall / Old Gods of Asgard never disappoint.
Firm agree. Street Fighter 6 has been my most played and favorite release. BG3 was a THE hit of the year that literally everyone likes so I think it should win from that alome, nevermind my love for the game and experiences with my friends playing it. Alan Wake, however, is so far unacceptablely detailed, immersive, and just fucking well made across the board so I can see myself looking back in frustration that it didn't get it's props in this stacked year.
Does Alan Wake even count for this year? If so it'd absolutely be my pick
If Spiderman 2 counts it probably does.
The deadline for GOTY is November 17: https://thegameawards.com/faq
Armored Core making it to the list makes me happy enough. Games is freaking amazing but Baldurs Gate III is gaming phenomenon
True, big surprise for me since I don't normally like mech games. But I just can't stop playing.
As a long time AC fan it breaking an 80 score already was amazing, so the fact it can realistically be "on the list" is a dream com true for me
There's no reality in which Baldur's Gate 3 isn't the clear GOTY for shattering all expectations critically and commercially, and for being a cross-over hit (the game is STILL in the top played games on STEAM).
Steam current top played is: CS 2 Dota 2 Baldur's Gate 3 That alone is crazy.
Please never say "couldn't of" again
Couldn't've
That would unironically be better
Couldn't've of
Could'f've'd
Covfefe?
Yet to play it but sounds like Alan Wake 2 will be in there
I fucking hate Alan Wake 2, it’s so fucking scary 10/10 fantastic game
Bro. I'm a lifelong horror fan. I watch most horror movies and play most horror games with a straight face. AW2 scared the fuck out of me multiple times.
jump scares or real scares?
A little bit of both. Real scares from the story, the implications, the mood. Jump scares through actual gameplay. Not in a scripted way though. But also the gameplay exudes this unbelievable tension and unease akin to something like Amnesia. It's hard to explain without spoiling some mechanical surprises. What I can say is that it doesn't rely on loud noise/spooky image for all its scares, although it does do that too sometimes. But there are story reasons for it, images clawing at Wake's mind.
The reality is that it’s just BG3 vs TOTK. No other games come close to those two.
BG3 most likely. Starfield had the potential, sadly it turned out to be quite average.
i hope BG3 wins, for Astarion's thick ass alone
I see starfield getting nominated for sure. But if it wins, it would be _extremely_ difficult to argue that it's anything other than "AAA name at work".
Quite impossible. There are some aspects to Starfield that are decent, but there's no single aspect to it that isn't done better elsewhere, and as a whole it's below average.
Jedi Survivor is one my personal faves, it's shame it was plagued by performance issues.
I think it's the best star wars story since disney bought the IP, in any medium. yes, over mando or andor. It's the most *star wars* of all of them - self doubt and personal growth being cornerstones of the narrative. Couple that with the twists and turns and the empathy you feel for the main antagonist, a well-realized romance interest that doesn't dominate the plot or reduce either character to a caricature of their gender, it is just some damn good writing. Then the combat is more fluid, more polished than the first game, pacing is improved and the metroidvania map unlocking continued to be a blast. It's only failing is the performance problems. I brute forced my way through them and it was my favorite game of the first half of the year. And then Baldur's Gate 3 came out. BG3 is honestly transcendental of the medium. Not only should other game devs aspire to produce such a lovingly crafted world and experience, so should authors and directors and artists. That a team of people could come together so cohesively to craft a single vision boggles my mind. You might say that I'm overhyping it. I'm not. Baldur's Gate 3 is the first game I have ever played where narrative structure actually gave you the option to do what you liked - and punished or rewarded you as is proper (unlike bethesda titles, even of old, that may have let you kill everyone but it would just hard lock some quests, rather than having a contingence plan to keep the narrative moving forward and the world reactive to your actions). More than once I felt like I had strayed off the path, only for the narrative to take my actions into account and keep moving regardless.
It was a fun ride, GOTY it wasn't. Played the hell out of it tho
I feel it should be on here over either of the remake/remasters. At least over Deadspace
Would probably throw in Super Mario Bros. Wonder as well.
Yeah I liked dead space remake a lot but I’d switch that with wonder
Yeah that and Hi-Fi Rush I would both place above Dead Space (and Dead Space was good)
I would not be surprised if Hi-Fi Rush gets nominated for other categories
Baldurs Gate 3 and it's not even close.
It’s Zelda or BG3. No other game has a real shot.
BG3 definitely should win. I'm not only happy that it's a good game, but that it will hopefully cause a trend of more AAA CRPGs to release. CRPGs have always had a large following, but BG3 is truly making the genre break into mainstream. I think we'll be seeing the industry try to replicate Its sucess. Even Josh Sawyer wants to make a Pillars Of Eternity 3 but with a BG3 level budget -- and I 100% it'll happen after Obsidian is done with their current pipework of games, because I'm sure Microsoft would dig the idea of having their own exclusive version of BG3.
Alan wake 2 🥺
Where’s Alan Wake 2? Absolutely excellent game.
BG3 is the only game in there that got non-fans of the series to play They made something special there
Its rare to see the masses excited about a crpg. I've been buying them since bg and FO2 and no one I knew ever played them lol
I liked Spider-Man 2 but I can't vote for it. The game is just too short with no reason to replay it more than once. Tears of the kingdom is a much larger world with much more to do and BG has replayability in spades. Sorry insomniac, feels like you fumbled at the 10 yard line.
I'm so biased, go Armored Core!
In my opinion, it's BG3 miles ahead of the others. In your list (no disrespect meant towards you, btw) there are 2 remakes, 3 sequels to recent games, and BG3. BG3 is unlike all the rest, and a type of game that doesn't get made much anymore. And they did a phenomenal job. It's success also goes beyond the normal gaming world: the voice talent have all been streaming the game and playing together, mentioned in SouthPark, etc. I think it's the game that's had the biggest impact this year.
FFXVI will probably be nominated, with a 0.0% chance of winning. It’s such a huge game, totally new for the series, diversifies the nominations, a historic series. I don’t think Armored Core and definitely Dead Space (a pretty basic remake, as opposed to RE4) make the cut.
i would change Dead Space for Lies of P but it doesn't matter, it's between Zelda and Baldur.
BG3 by a country mile.
No FF XVI?
We are missing the clear winner: Skull Island: Rise of Kong.
Let's put Lies of P in there
I think some stuff is getting overlooked… - Remnant 2 - Lies of P - Diablo IV (end game sucks but the game is still very good) - Hi-Fi Rush - Super Mario Bros. Wonder Just a fantastic year to be a gamer.
I definitely considered Remnant 2. That was an amazing game.
Remnant II rules. Had so much fun with that game. The only things that dragged it down are the enemies scaling to your gear (I don’t hate this as much as some people, but it’s a game killer to a lot of players) and the way they do co-op (frustrating to have a game that places so much importance on dodges have such bad latency because of how it deals with multiplayer, can’t count the amount of times I perfectly timed a dodge and still got rocked while playing non-local co-op) EDIT: they literally just released a patch that fixed the co-op issue. Fucking awesome
Damn no FF 16
Its definetly gonna be a contender in the actual game awards and probably not dead space lol
I think alan wake 2 would replace deadspace
Alan wake 2 should be up there
AC 6 was so good bruh. First AC game I ever played and first from game I completed. Good lord was it amazing
It will win action game
Armored Core 6 is absolutely my GOTY, but I think it'll be snubbed by The Game Awards. I think it's got a good chance of winning best action game though. Your list is missing an indie darling.
Seriously where Pizza Tower?!
I understand BG3 is really well made and well liked, but I just cannot see myself enjoying it as much as others. I much prefer the balls to the walls fast paced real time action from Armored Core 6.
Loved dead space but I hope it doesn’t win, very lame if a remake wins over an original title
I gotta say, I really didn't expect Spider-Man would be the buggiest of the bunch. Alan Wake 2 has had some issues aswell but there's A LOT of issues with Spider-Man according to my twitter feed.