HF Game of the Year 2017 - Breath of the Wild wins!

2017 Game of the Year?


  • Total voters
    49
  • Poll closed .

Oscar Acosta

Registered User
Mar 19, 2011
7,695
369
Commander Clueless nailed it with the player base being split vs. players united with Nintendo. It's a symptom of Nintendo having a lack of great titles so they'll band together around the one a year that they liked but if you were to objectively put Zelda vs. Persona 5 nobody in their right mind would conclude Zelda to be the better game ha.
 

Big McLargehuge

Fragile Traveler
May 9, 2002
72,188
7,741
S. Pasadena, CA
The 'Nintendo lacks games' argument doesn't hold a thimble of water this year, fwiw. Usually I'll lead that fight, but credit where it's due: Nintendo had a pretty fantastic 2017. Now the onus is on them to follow this up without having long-developed Zelda or Mario games in their back pockets.

I'll definitely buy the split vote argument, though, from one console people. Zelda coming out so much earlier than Mario also helped its case in something like this.
 

No Fun Shogun

34-38-61-10-13-15
May 1, 2011
56,098
12,757
Illinois
Believe it or not, people often have different opinions and tastes when it comes to games, among other things. The notion that everybody must love Persona 5 over Breath the Wild is just as ridiculous as if I said that everybody most love Breath of the Wild over Persona 5. People love both and neither and one over the other just fine.
 

Big McLargehuge

Fragile Traveler
May 9, 2002
72,188
7,741
S. Pasadena, CA
There probably isn't a ton of overlap between gamers who played both and loved both, they're wildly different games.

Doesn't mean the split the vote concept can't be true too. In a normal year Horizon or Mario Odyssey both could have easily received my vote.

As I said earlier I expected BotW to run away with this thing, so the fact it was relatively competative surprised me. BotW has that Star Wars appeal, it transcends it's medium in terms of popularity. Hardcore and casual gamers flock to that in a way you don't see with too many other franchises.
 

No Fun Shogun

34-38-61-10-13-15
May 1, 2011
56,098
12,757
Illinois
Sure, but it's still an odd statement to make that there's no conceivable way that someone would prefer one over the other due to the inherent subjective tastes that people having in gaming and in how they play games. It'd almost be akin to if I said that not only do I think that Italian food is the best, and therefore I preferred Italian food over Mexican food, but I then went on to say that if you were to objectively put Italian food vs. Mexican food nobody in their right mind would conclude that Mexican food was possibly better. Everyone's reaction would just be, "What? Uh.... no..." even from people that personally agreed with my taste preference.
 

Commander Clueless

Hiya, hiya. Pleased to meetcha.
Sep 10, 2008
15,237
2,922
Just as a disclaimer: I wasn't trying to criticize anyone's vote or anything. I just found it interesting that this year was a battle of exclusives and was wondering how much of the battle came down to which system everyone had. I'm guessing not everyone owns both a Switch and a PS4.

In general, I expect multi-platform games to have the advantage in these types of polls as more people overall have played them. This year was a battle of exclusives. I don't know if that is because the first party developers were just on point this year, or if we had a sad year on the multi-platform side (looking at you, EA). Probably both.

I do speculate that, had Persona come out in NA last year, Horizon would have given Zelda more of a fight due to the platform exclusivity thing.

I haven't actually played Zelda nor Persona, so I'll stay out of this argument. However, they seem like wildly (no pun intended) different styles.
 

bambamcam4ever

107 and counting
Feb 16, 2012
14,303
6,344
Just as a disclaimer: I wasn't trying to criticize anyone's vote or anything. I just found it interesting that this year was a battle of exclusives and was wondering how much of the battle came down to which system everyone had. I'm guessing not everyone owns both a Switch and a PS4.

In general, I expect multi-platform games to have the advantage in these types of polls as more people overall have played them. This year was a battle of exclusives. I don't know if that is because the first party developers were just on point this year, or if we had a sad year on the multi-platform side (looking at you, EA). Probably both.

I do speculate that, had Persona come out in NA last year, Horizon would have given Zelda more of a fight due to the platform exclusivity thing.

I haven't actually played Zelda nor Persona, so I'll stay out of this argument. However, they seem like wildly (no pun intended) different styles.
As someone who has both Zelda and Horizon, I disagree. Horizon simply isn't in Zelda's class.

Maybe Zelda won because it's the best game of the past half-decade at least?
 

Commander Clueless

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Sep 10, 2008
15,237
2,922
As someone who has both Zelda and Horizon, I disagree. Horizon simply isn't in Zelda's class.

Maybe Zelda won because it's the best game of the past half-decade at least?

Maybe, but that wasn't my point at all.

I'm not sure what you're disagreeing with. :laugh:

I was saying that the exclusivity factor might affect the results, and speculating that removing the PS4's second most popular option would increase the number of votes for Horizon as opposed to more people buying a Switch and playing Zelda. Which of the two games is better has nothing to do with that.
 
Last edited:

Big McLargehuge

Fragile Traveler
May 9, 2002
72,188
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S. Pasadena, CA
I wouldn't say a majority of people on this board have multiple current consoles, that's the point that came across to me. If more people had a Switch, Zelda would have almost certainly won by a larger margin.
 

syz

[1, 5, 6, 14]
Jul 13, 2007
28,864
12,267
Open world lunatics make up a large portion of this board so those games win when there are good ones. I wouldn't have Zelda or Horizon in a top 10 this year, although I managed to tolerate Zelda for longer.
 

vippe

Registered User
Mar 18, 2008
14,234
1,184
Sweden
As expected. BotW is a brilliant game. And the best one to hit consoles in years.

Here are a collection of sites and magazines awards:

GAME OF THE YEAR PICKS BLOG



Commander Clueless nailed it with the player base being split vs. players united with Nintendo. It's a symptom of Nintendo having a lack of great titles so they'll band together around the one a year that they liked but if you were to objectively put Zelda vs. Persona 5 nobody in their right mind would conclude Zelda to be the better game ha.


:rolleyes:
 

Commander Clueless

Hiya, hiya. Pleased to meetcha.
Sep 10, 2008
15,237
2,922
I wouldn't say a majority of people on this board have multiple current consoles, that's the point that came across to me. If more people had a Switch, Zelda would have almost certainly won by a larger margin.

Certainly possible. I can't say, having not played Zelda. Maybe one day...

I'm glad some (most people?) understood what I meant. :laugh:
 

Bocephus86

Registered User
Mar 2, 2011
6,166
3,664
Boston
I wouldn't say a majority of people on this board have multiple current consoles, that's the point that came across to me. If more people had a Switch, Zelda would have almost certainly won by a larger margin.
I've played for about 8 hours thus far and it hasn't grabbed me yet... and I bought the switch FOR this game, so I really want it to (and still hoping it will).

Everyone has different opinions of games...
 

HanSolo

DJ Crazy Times
Apr 7, 2008
96,449
30,715
Las Vegas
Commander Clueless nailed it with the player base being split vs. players united with Nintendo. It's a symptom of Nintendo having a lack of great titles so they'll band together around the one a year that they liked but if you were to objectively put Zelda vs. Persona 5 nobody in their right mind would conclude Zelda to be the better game ha.
I can't deny thar I play Nintendo games but I'm the furthest thing from a fanboy. I only like a select number of Nintendo series as is and a majority of my gaming is done outside of the realm of what they develop. Most of my favorite games aren't made by Nintendo. Even within the Zelda series, I struggle to bring myself to complete most of them. Breath of the Wild I will see through in its entirety because to me it IS a fantastic game. The last game to wow me like this with its scope, size, and ambition was The Witcher 3. While the Witcher was narratively stronger, Breath of the Wild is a better open world experience that feels organic and is a delight to play. It has nothing to do with any sort of Nintendo loyalty or justifying my Switch purchase since I have and am getting plenty of third party titles for the Switch as it is. For me it is engrossing, the massive scale is awe inspiring, and the survival elements incentivises every thing I as the player do in the game until I feel strong enough to complete the story. I think it's gaming done fantastically well, just as a personal aside.

However this whole argument that HF is gonna fanboy over Zelda is really quite foolish considering how the majority of people here were disappointed by or outright hated LoZ Skyward Sword.
 

Emperoreddy

Show Me What You Got!
Apr 13, 2010
129,839
75,232
New Jersey, Exit 16E
I can't deny thar I play Nintendo games but I'm the furthest thing from a fanboy. I only like a select number of Nintendo series as is and a majority of my gaming is done outside of the realm of what they develop. Most of my favorite games aren't made by Nintendo. Even within the Zelda series, I struggle to bring myself to complete most of them. Breath of the Wild I will see through in its entirety because to me it IS a fantastic game. The last game to wow me like this with its scope, size, and ambition was The Witcher 3. While the Witcher was narratively stronger, Breath of the Wild is a better open world experience that feels organic and is a delight to play. It has nothing to do with any sort of Nintendo loyalty or justifying my Switch purchase since I have and am getting plenty of third party titles for the Switch as it is. For me it is engrossing, the massive scale is awe inspiring, and the survival elements incentivises every thing I as the player do in the game until I feel strong enough to complete the story. I think it's gaming done fantastically well, just as a personal aside.

However this whole argument that HF is gonna fanboy over Zelda is really quite foolish considering how the majority of people here were disappointed by or outright hated LoZ Skyward Sword.

It can’t be dismissed that it isn’t yet HF that fawns all over BoTW.

It isn’t some accident that it won so many GotY from different publications and fans votes.
 

SniperHF

Rejecting Reports
Mar 9, 2007
42,632
21,042
Phoenix
Mmmkay if I was going to make a list for 2010 to vote on how does this look?

Anything egregious that's missing?
Alan Wake
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Fallout: New Vegas
God Of War III
Heavy Rain
Mass Effect 2
Red Dead Redemption
Sid Meier's Civilization V
Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
Super Mario Galaxy 2
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

I'd guess it's pretty well gonna come down to FNV vs RDR vs ME2 voting wise.
 

HanSolo

DJ Crazy Times
Apr 7, 2008
96,449
30,715
Las Vegas
Mmmkay if I was going to make a list for 2010 to vote on how does this look?

Anything egregious that's missing?
Alan Wake
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Fallout: New Vegas
God Of War III
Heavy Rain
Mass Effect 2
Red Dead Redemption
Sid Meier's Civilization V
Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
Super Mario Galaxy 2
[TBODY] [/TBODY]
I'd guess it's pretty well gonna come down to FNV vs RDR vs ME2 voting wise.

Oof. That would be tough to pick between Galaxy 2, New Vegas, Mass Effect, and Red Dead.

All I can say is Brotherhood really doesn't deserve to be there. It was pretty much garbage. But maybe I'm biased cause I think the series as whole wasn't that great.
It can’t be dismissed that it isn’t yet HF that fawns all over BoTW.

It isn’t some accident that it won so many GotY from different publications and fans votes.
Definitely not. I mean, don't get me wrong. It's not a perfect game. But then again I don't think any Zelda game is without its issues. The treasured Ocarina of Time included.

But. With a minimalist plot scope it achieves some truly grand aims. As far as story goes I'm only about halfway through and I've found all but one map tower meaning I've at least been to almost all of Hyrule but that has consisted of me climbing up high, seeing a shrine or map tower and going straight to it. There is so much to see and do. Yeah the combat can be a little simplistic at times (I was actually stunned at how easily I took down the second divine beast), but Zelda has never been Dark Souls. It's about getting to the bosses, figuring out their weakness and then exploiting it. And I don't think Breath of the Wild is SUPPOSED to be about the story. While I think the emphasis on spoken word cutscenes is refreshing and has doled out some memorable moments, the experience is in exploration and experimentation. I have yet to be truly bored by this game. Even game ending deaths can be entertaining as hell. The first time I saw and fought a Hinox I walked right up to it while it was sleeping and was looking at it trying to figure out how to wake it up. As I was thinking of what to do, it woke up on its own with a big swing of its arms to haul itself up. I didn't move and when the arms came down it auto killed me wiping off all 8 of my hearts. Words don't do it justice but I was dying laughing. I've enjoyed Zelda games in the past but not quite like this.

The weapon durability and difficulty to get and keep a healthy supply of arrows annoyed me at first but I realize it's meant to simulate open world survival. If you run out of food and potions you need to gather more supplies. If you carelessly use your weapons you need to find a way to get more. It makes the player play with caution. And BotW accounts for this by not stuffing every corner of the map and dungeons with enemies. I've seen complaints that there's too much empty space but I think that's a pro in the game's favor. When you finally get to something notable, it makes the encounter far more meaningful. You spend the journey wandering from point to point wondering if the next thing you see will yield good rewards or not and the music is so ethereal and serene it feels like you're really moving around in real nature. I love open world games and there have been some fantastic open worlds to explore in gaming but I think BotW's Hyrule feels the most alive.

I have zero issue with anyone giving Zelda GotY. I'm not even done with it yet and I'm inclined to say it's one of my favorite games of all time. And that's not some tainted bias in trying to justify my Switch purchase. I bought the Switch because I wasn't touching my 3ds anymore and I figured that's where Nintendo's focus was going and I felt better get it now before games I'm waiting for like Fire Emblem and Smash Bros come out than to keep waiting. The game is fantastic and titles like this and Mario Odyssey show that Nintendo is taking their game quality in the right direction. With the Wii U and Wii it felt like they were trying to keep their heads above water to compete with Sony and Microsoft. But on this platform alone it feels like Nintendo has produced true standouts.

I don't know. I can understand that people might not be totally grabbed by the game in its opening few hours but I'm not sure how anyone going into the game with an open mind can't have moments of being wowed and awed by the scope and freedom the game possesses if they get past that introductory stage.
 

Emperoreddy

Show Me What You Got!
Apr 13, 2010
129,839
75,232
New Jersey, Exit 16E
I don’t think there exists a perfect game. Well maybe Super Metroid. I can’t think of s flaw in that game.

Honestly I think Mario would have been a fine choice this year too. It was also an incredible game.

Also for a game that sadly didn’t get any votes, I thought Hollow Knight was an absolutely fantastic game.
 

Oscar Acosta

Registered User
Mar 19, 2011
7,695
369
Sure, but it's still an odd statement to make that there's no conceivable way that someone would prefer one over the other due to the inherent subjective tastes that people having in gaming and in how they play games. It'd almost be akin to if I said that not only do I think that Italian food is the best, and therefore I preferred Italian food over Mexican food, but I then went on to say that if you were to objectively put Italian food vs. Mexican food nobody in their right mind would conclude that Mexican food was possibly better. Everyone's reaction would just be, "What? Uh.... no..." even from people that personally agreed with my taste preference.

I'm not saying subjective taste, I'm saying nobody in their right mind could honestly think Zelda was the best video game of the year if they played the others.

Just like by my taste, Back to the Future is my favourite movie of all time. But does it deserve the 1986 Academy Award for best picture over Platoon? Probably not. I might think All Eyez on Me is the greatest rap album of all time but the Grammy voters went with the Fugees in 1997. They were probably wrong though, my point remains. Your favourite isn't always the best. Eric Lindros was my favourite hockey player from 1992-2003, he only won one Hart Trophy.

People voting that Zelda was the best video game of 2017 either didn't play the others, or are blindly voting because it held no candle in video game technology or advancement over the other nominees.
 

bambamcam4ever

107 and counting
Feb 16, 2012
14,303
6,344
I'm not saying subjective taste, I'm saying nobody in their right mind could honestly think Zelda was the best video game of the year if they played the others.

Just like by my taste, Back to the Future is my favourite movie of all time. But does it deserve the 1986 Academy Award for best picture over Platoon? Probably not. I might think All Eyez on Me is the greatest rap album of all time but the Grammy voters went with the Fugees in 1997. They were probably wrong though, my point remains. Your favourite isn't always the best. Eric Lindros was my favourite hockey player from 1992-2003, he only won one Hart Trophy.

People voting that Zelda was the best video game of 2017 either didn't play the others, or are blindly voting because it held no candle in video game technology or advancement over the other nominees.
This sounds like someone who hasn't played Zelda.
 

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