Astro Bot and the 5 Other GOTY Contenders So Far

"When looking at Game of the Year, there are multiple factors to consider: critical reception, general consumer reception, and popularity. There are other variables that can be rolled into the methodology, but for the most part, this is the trio making up the formula. A popular game doesn't always mean a great game though. Millions buy Madden every year, but they all insist it is more torture than entertainment. High review scores aren't the sole determiner either. If a game gets ultra high review scores, but only 50,000 people play it, it's hardly relevant. Further, critics aren't the only consumers of games, so general consumer reception is also important. As for why only six games? It is simple: that is how many games were nominated for the category at The Game Awards last year."

[shadowT]

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is still my GOTY

[MrNinosan]

Same, with Astro just behind.

[RaidenBlack]

upcoming Plucky Squire will be pretty good as well ... if you liked Astro Bot, might check that one as well

[Crows90]

Forgot about that one

[TheNamelessOne]

My favorite games of the year were Pacific Drive, Banishers, and Sons of the Forest.

[TylerFischer]

Sons of the forest is awesome

[Relientk77]

I'm picking up Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden soon. I wanna play it next month, closer to Halloween.

[90sGamingWasBetter]

I have the physical copy of Pacific Drive in my backlog still sealed.

[Soy]

Upvoting you because it's stupid for people to downvote your opinion. If you loved those games most, great!

[TheNamelessOne]

lol. Appreciated, guy. Some of the users on here are adorable like that.

[Relientk77]

Of the games I've played so far this year, my GOTY at the moment is Stellar Blade. I got more games to play though, so we'll see if that stays on top.

[Gamehard]

Stellar Blade and Unicorn Overlord are both up there for my GotY. I feel like Stellar Blade will get heavily overshadowed with all the Wukong hype unfortunately :(

[CS7]

Stellar Blade is so mid compared to Rebirth.

[EternalTitan]

Tifa boobs > Eve butt.

[andy85]

I hope Like a Dragon gets in the final 6. That series has been so consistent it deserves a nod. IW was the 2nd best one in the series.

[BanginTunes]

Dunno what's with the downvotes you got. IW wasn't my favourite but it reviewed better than Wukong, deserves a nod

[pwnmaster3000]

I still need to play stellar blade and ff7r(bought it first day but haven’t had the chance so backed up in games), but I played Astrobot and so far this is my GOTY. I had no interest in this game at first but I read a review stating that it rejuvenated their love for games and that’s exactly what it did for me.
This is exactly what I’ve been looking for and seeing all those old PlayStation characters I grew up with had me cheering for no reason when I found them lol

[Berenger]

Definitely still Rebirth for me! I personally think it's better than the original FF7, which was my favorite game of all time for 24 years 🤣

[MrNinosan]

Couldn't agree more 🙌

[MrNinosan]

Even if I hope it doesn't win, Zelda will always have a free spot, so that will probably get to the final 6.

My guess is:
Rebirth
Astro Bot
Zelda
Wukong
Balatro
Dragon Age

[Berenger]

I think the one other game that will get added to this list is Space Marine 2. I agree with everything else, though I can't speak on Animal Well, as I haven't played it. As much as I enjoy Wukong, it's literally just a giant boss rush game and the combat isn't as responsive as I would like, coming from Nioh and Rise of the Ronin. Or even Stellar Blade.
Astro Bot is amazing but it's not named Mario, so likely won't earn as many awards as it deserves.
Rebirth is incredible and I would love if it won GOTY

[Asuka]

Stellar Blade should be considered, and not as an honorable mention.

[gold_drake]

im hoping for Rebirth.

that game... damn it was so good.

[EternalTitan]

Where is Concord?

[Crows90]

Priceless.

[repsahj]

and Hellblade 2?

[Gregero]

I'm saving Rebirth to play around Christmas time (brings me back to being a kid and playing OG FFVII on Christmas of '97 - or '98?) I'm hoping will be my GoTY. I've been catching up on older games so I can't say much of what I've played is from this year aside from Stellar Cake.

[Flewid638]

I feel like Wukong will win this no matter what.

[MrNinosan]

It absolutely shouldn't.
It's a good game, not great.

And too many flaws to win GOTY.

[Flewid638]

People have said the same thing about every GotY winner. lol.

[MrNinosan]

@Flewid
Oh really?
Baldurs Gate 3, Elden Ring, It Takes Two, The Last of Us Part 2, Sekiro, God of War, Breath of the Wild...
Those are the winners last 7 years.

"Flaws" with the games was BG3 not working on Series S, Elden Ring "too hard", It Takes Two "a kids game", Last of Us Part 2, "we hate you Neil", Sekiro "not Bloodbourne", God of War, "interactive movie third person action", Breath of the Wild "is not Zelda anymore"...

None of the last 7 years winner actually had flaws like frame rate issues, technical bugs, bad story telling etc.

Wukong is only big for 2 reasons (and yes, I like the game, it's good, not just great)
1. Being based on Chinese Mythology, bigger and more popular than Marvel resulting in millions and millions of Chinese buying the game
2. Snow ball effect - Just like Palworld, when everyone played it and got attention in Media, the next person wanted in on the fun

You may like Wukong and see it fit as your personal GOTY which I fully respect, but the game is nowhere near in quality like Tekken 8, FFVII: Rebirth, Astro Bot etc.

Hogwarts Legacy was the best selling game last year and was nowhere near GOTY.

[Flewid638]

Thats nice and all but I didn't make this world, I just live in it.

[ChasterMies]

“If a game gets ultra high review scores, but only 50,000 people play it, it's hardly relevant.”

Isn’t this the point of a game of the year award? So many movies went onto larger audiences after winning an Oscar. Game journalism is too beholden to the games industry.

[P_Bomb]

This. Give the awards to the best games. The top sellers (COD, FIFA, Wukong) don’t need the rub.

[Soy]

It should be best game, period, regardless of sales.

[jznrpg]

I’m waiting to play Astro Bot as I finishing up some games and Black Myth WuKong doesn’t have a physical copy as of now so for me I’d probably pick Stellar Blade. FF7Rebirth is right up there but I didn’t like so many of the mini games being part of the main quests. Great game but that hindered it a little for me. I still have Trails from Daybreak to play as well I heard that’s really good from a couple friends.

[Soy]

FF7 Rebirth for me, was engrossed the entire time. Only thing I can see competing in my personal list is Zelda, and maybe Dragon Age if Bioware has a huge comeback within them.

[shadowfax33]

i doubt dragon age will be that good..

[Soy]

Yeah, so do I, but I like to leave room for a small miracle. I love the series and, while generally a pessimist, want to keep hope alive in this case.

[Profchaos]

Astros a clear front runner for me I can't remember the last game that I smiled and laughed while playing

[-Foxtrot]

Astro Bot all the way

Stands out more than Rebirth to me

[aaronaton]

Games Journalists - Our GOTY nominees are Dustborn, Star Wars Outlaws and Concord.

[Armaggedon]

So far, Dragons dogma 2 for me