GOTY 2020 Nominees:

[Shareefruck]

I had no idea that people who defended the last season of Game of Thrones still existed. Sometimes bad writing is just bad writing.

 

[Desdichado93]

IMO Microsoft Flight Simulator is GOTY.

 

[Leafs at Knight]

TLOU2 easily. And rightfully pretty much swept the game awards this year.

 

[Mikeaveli]

The fact that Microsoft Flight Sim won the award for best strategy game pretty much tells you all you need to know about these awards

 

[Shareefruck]

The fact that Microsoft Flight Sim won the award for best strategy game pretty much tells you all you need to know about these awards

The category is best sim/strategy, though.

 

[Tonneau]

The category is best sim/strategy, though.

The category was created this way specifically so Flight Simulator could win.

 

[Shareefruck]

The category was created this way specifically so Flight Simulator could win.

Oh, was it not that last year?

 

[JaegerDice]

And Ghost of Tusuhima didn't? How many games take place in that time period/setting besides Sekiro?

Not like it matters since Ghost won the award where people who actually played the games in question got a say. I can see TLOU2 winning for the voiceover performances and technical achievement but it has no business winning game of the year

Not really. There's been no lack of games set or referencing Feudal Japan over the decades. One of the reasons the Assassin's Creed team specifically claimed they were staying away from Japan as a setting was because it was very 'been there, done that' throughout gaming and using it would have turned AC into a 'generic ninja game'. The cultural, artistic, architectural touchstones of feudal japan have saturated the industry for years, which makes sense, given how dominant Japanese companies were in the industry for so long.

Sucker Punch basically made a paint-by-numbers Assassin's Creed game in Japan. It's fine. The only interesting new mechanic is really the dueling mechanic. The whole honor vs stealth concept is somehow less developed and more artificially binary than even the Mass Effect morality system. There's nothing particularly daring, bold or innovative about it. It's well-crafted and ultimately soulless.

I personally didn't love TLOU2 that much, but at least it doesn't feel like it was spec-ed out in a boardroom full of marketers trying to hit as many bullet-points as possible for your average big open world AAA game.

 

[Tonneau]

Oh, was it not that last year?

I was saying it in jest because Flight Simulator clearly doesn't fit in the same category as the other nominees.

I don't know what the category was last year, but there may not be enough simulation type games for them to be their own category so merging simulation and strategy may sort of make sense.

 

[JaegerDice]

I was saying it in jest because Flight Simulator clearly doesn't fit in the same category as the other nominees.

I don't know what the category was last year, but there may not be enough simulation type games for them to be their own category so merging simulation and strategy may sort of make sense.

Pretty much this.

It was just 'Best Strategy Game' last year. This year there weren't enough games to fill out a nominee list.

Not unlike many websites combining best racing game and best sports game.

 

[Tonneau]

Not unlike many websites combining best racing game and best sports game.

Racing is a sport though.

 

[Commander Clueless]

Oh, was it not that last year?

I think it was the same category as last year, but it didn't really make sense then either.

Having Crusader Kings going up against Flight Simulator is the weirdest genre category contest.....the only real similarities is that both are video games.

Not that I don't think Flight Simulator isn't worthy of praise. I got bored extremely quickly myself, but it's hard not to appreciate what that game is.

 

[Mikeaveli]

The category is best sim/strategy, though.

But why are they combined? It makes zero sense. They are two completely different genres. Racing and sports games should be separate as well imo.