Nominations are out!

Game of the Year:

Alan Wake 2
Baldur's Gate 3
Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Resident Evil 4 remake
Spider-Man 2
Super Mario Wonder

Winners history:

2022- Elden Ring
2021 - It Takes Two
2020 - The Last of Us 2
2019 - Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
2018 - God of War
2017 - Zelda: Breath of the Wild
2016 - Overwatch
2015 - The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
2014 - Dragon Age: Inquisition
2013 - Grand Theft Auto V
2012 - The Walking Dead
2011 - Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
2010 - Red Dead Redemption
2009 - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
2008 - Grand Theft Auto IV
2007 - Bioshock
2006 - Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
2005 - Resident Evil 4
2004 - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
2003 - Madden NFL 2004

Baulder's Gate 3 is the favorite based on past winners, I think. But they've also snubbed Nintendo a lot in 20 years. That's probably an even bigger sign BG3 wins, but may be they'll switch it up this year.

And Nintendo better win Developer this year because they've had an incredible 2023.

Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

should win GOTY!

Nintendo usually gets a token nomination but only the one win is pretty weak.

Baldur is the cool kids choice this year though. No doubt about it. Dungeons and Dragons has really made huge a cultural comeback. It can probably thank Stranger Things for that.

Yeah Baulders Gate is gonna win. I think Tears of the Kingdom feels too much like DLC for Breath of the Wild instead of having its own identity.

Alan Wake is kinda creepin up. Feels like an odd choice, but Remedy's last game Control won most publication's game of the year but lost here to Sekiro. Maybe this year will be the opposite lol.

In hindsight I think Control would have been the better choice in 2019. FromSoftware would have only had to wait another few years to get their trophy. And Control was awesome!

Baldur's Gate wins. That was expected going into the awards but nobody would have guessed that at this time last year. So good for it. Not only a great game (by all metrics, I havent played it and dont know if I ever will) but one that truly captured the world in the second half of the year. A well deserved win.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth winning most anticipated game over Hades 2 was the only real flop of the night. Come on! Hades 2 should be above everything except maybe GTA6 right now.

Also, though I still haven't played Deathloop (or Prey), I love the idea of Arkane Studios doing a Blade game.

My laptop is too old to play Baldur’s Gate 3 but I might give Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2 a go.

Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

WAS ROBBED!

I saw the hype at first, the first ten hours of the game were amazing, but after sometime, it is overstuffed and unfocused. The unfocused aspect of Breath of the Wild worked perfectly due to the nature of the story and how much the gameplay revolved around discovery. Here Tears of the Kingdom is far more story driven, and so the open format worked against the narrative like so many other open world games (albeit not as bad as Fallout 4)

I don't know. I thought the story was up there with the very best in Zelda. The main story in your quest to find Zelda explains the origin of the first sages (in this Hyrule), the historic Zonai civilization (which is likely linked to the Sky Temple, City in the Sky, in Twilight Princess), how Hyrule was founded, and how the events happened that led up to the Calamity itself from BotW.

The main story (finding Zelda and finding the Tears quest(s)) also has an eventful conclusion, and a crazy final boss battle. There's something in plain sight too, and if you realize it before the reveal, it's a big moment (at least it was for us).

And the MANY side quests reveal a lot of Zelda franchise lore. One of the big ones revealing that the Gorons are born from the earth directly and not from procreation, and their place of birth is how they determine who their family is.

The Depths introduce an all-new "realm" or region to the franchise. It's mostly speculation and theory based on some Yiga diary entries you find, how it's a mirror of the surface, and the relation between the Bargainer statues and the Poes there, but it's impressive. A fairly common theory is that when the chasms appeared following the Upheaval, it essentially fucked up the underground region the Zonai were mining 10,000 years ago and the underworld itself so they sort of became one ("The Depths"), or it affected the so much that elements of the underworld (the poes and a certain spirit is located down there) is leaking out into the underground.

Yes, yes, this doesn't have much to do with gameplay, but the main story and all the information and new theories from other quests and parts of the game is substantial.

I haven’t played Boulder Gate 3, but I do have extremely high standards for Zelda as Majora’s Mask and Ocarina of Time, rose tinted glasses aside, are flipping masterpieces. Breath of the Wild was the first to come close, but dropped the ball in the final battle.

I'll admit I barely did any story in Tears. Whenever I jump back in I'll try to focus on that over shrines and exploration.

Majora's 3DS is my fav Zelda. 10/10. Love the pacing of that game. A rouge-lite way ahead of its time. I really wish they would put it on Switch already. Don't even wanna know how much it would cost to get a cartridge. Skyward Sword, Breath, Wind Waker, Link's Awakening Remake and Link Between Worlds all range between 9-9.9 depending on the day.

Even if I loved Tears, I wouldn't find this to be a huge snub though. Nothing like Wind Waker losing to Madden anyway lol. If The Game Awards went back further I'm sure Zelda would have several more wins. Hopefully they get Odyssey 2 out next year though cause Mario is way overdue and I'd rather it not compete against GTAVI.

Was searching for a possible Nintendo win that wasn't Zelda, not easy since both Galaxies came out with heavy competition. But I think the obvious one was Fire Emblem Awakening over Walked Dead. 3DS was kind of a flop at first but it had a ton of great games on it and I think history will remember it as being superior to the Wii U. Glad I kept mine even if I can't buy anymore games on it.

Fire Emblem Awakening is probably a top five Nintendo game in the 2010s, so you’re probably right