End of the Year Categories/ Game of the Year Considerations 2018

It's almost that time of year again.

So I did one of these last year and wanted to do it again for this years crop of games. I just enjoy doing this as a thought experiment and seeing where it goes. If anything it also definitely helps me see how I am feeling about this year so far. Which while I may not feel as strongly about the games released this as I did last year, there are some definite highs.

If you can think of any glaring omissions/recommendations, feel free to let me know and I will add them because some of the categories this year for me are lacking/need work. I'm also sticking with what has currently released and will wait until new games come out to add them to list.

Best Looking

• Subnautica
• Monster Hunter: World
• Dragon Ball FighterZ
• CHUCHEL
• Ni no Kuni: Revenant Kingdom
• Sea of Thieves
• Far Cry 5
• Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
• God of War
• Frostpunk
• Detroit: Become Human
• Mario Tennis Aces
• Unravel Two
• The Crew 2
• Octopath Traveler
• The Banner Saga 3
• Dead Cells
• Donut County
• Dragon Quest XI
• Spider-Man
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider
• Valkryria Chronicles 4
• Forza Horizon 4
• Assassin's Creed Odyssey
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• Kingdom Come Deliverance (suggested by TreeTrunk )
• Tetris Effect
• Battlefield V

Best Styyyyyle

• Celeste
• Monster Hunter: World
• Dragon Ball FighterZ
• Fe
• Mount Your Friends 3D
• Into the Breach
• CHUCHEL
• Where the Water Tastes like Wine
• Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
• Sea of Thieves
• Minit
• Pit People
• The Swords of Ditto
• Laser League
• Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon
• Yoku's Island Express
• BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle
• Onrush
• Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido
• Shape of the World
• Octopath Traveler
• Tempest 4000
• Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion
• Pool Panic
• Dead Cells
• WarioWare Gold
• Guacamelee! 2
• Donut County
• The Messenger
• Brawlout
• Dragon Quest XI
• Two Point Hospital
• Frozen Synapse 2
• Valkyria Chronicles 4
• The Gardens Between
• Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise
• Return of the Obra Dinn
• FAR: Lone Sails (suggested by Kastan )
• Tetris Effect

Best Story

• Celeste
• Where the Water Tastes like Wine
• A Way Out
• Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
• Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
• God of War
• The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit
• Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire
• The Banner Saga 3
• Donut County
• Spider-Man
• Dragon Quest XI
• Life is Strange 2
• The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories
• Return of the Obra Dinn
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• Kingdom Come Deliverance (suggested by TreeTrunk )
• Detroit: Become Human
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Best Surprise

• Monster Hunter: World
• Dragon Ball FighterZ
• Mount Your Friends 3D
• Sea of Thieves
• Minit
• God of War
• Laser League
• Nintendo Labo
• Moonlighter
• BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle
• Jurassic World Evolution
• Yoku's Island Express
• The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit
• Fighting EX Layer
• Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion
• Pool Panic
• Strange Brigade
• The Messenger
• The Gardens Between
• Mega Man 11
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
• Starlink: Battle for Atlas
• Fire Pro Wrestling World (suggested by Shiftygism)
• Deltarune (suggested by Bones8677)
• Astro Bot Rescue Mission

• The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories

Best Multiplayer

• Dragon Ball FighterZ
• Monster Hunter: World
• Warhammer: Vermintide 2
• Kirby Star Allies
• Sea of Thieves
• A Way Out
• Laser League
• Rust
• State of Decay 2
• BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle
• Onrush
• Mario Tennis Aces
• Fighting EX Layer
• Overcooked 2
• Strange Brigade
• Forza Horizon 4
• Super Mario Party
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
• Soulcalibur VI
• Jackbox Party Pack 5
• Lethal League Blaze
• Battlefield V
• Fortnite
• Sports games???

Best New Character

• Madeline- Celeste
• Theo- Celeste
• Sylvando- DQXI
• Android 21- DBFZ
• Quill- Moss
• Boomer- Far Cry 5
• Cheeseburger- Far Cry 5
• Peaches- Far Cry 5
• The Narrator (Sting)- The Water Tastes like Wine
• Atreus- God of War
• Mimir- God of War
• Leo- A Way Out
• The Prisoner- Dead Cells
• BK- Donut County
• The Shopkeeper- The Messenger
• Dominguez- Shadow of the Tomb Raider
• Sean Diaz- Life is Strange 2
• Kassandra- Assassin's Creed Odyssey
• Arthur Morgan- Red Dead Redemption 2
• Connor - Detroit: Become Human (suggested by Wilkin )
• Ono Michio-Kun - Yakuza 6 (suggested by JeremyF )
• Primrose- Octopath Traveler (suggested by APDLS)
• Olberic- Octopath Traveler (suggested by APDLS)
• Sadie Adler- Red Dead Redemption 2 (suggested by soulcake)
• Hosea Matthews- Red Dead Redemption 2 (suggested by soulcake)
• Brok- God of War (suggested by Thursday1977)
• Sindri- God of War (suggested by Thursday1977)

Definitely feel like I'm missing plenty of characters. Are there any characters from like Ni no Kuni II, Valkyria Chronicles 4, Yakuza 6, or like Detroit I should have on here?

Best Debut

• Iconoclasts
• Celeste
• Fe
• Dandara
• Into the Breach
• Where the Water Tastes like Wine
• Minit
• Sea of Thieves
• Nintendo Labo
• The Swords of Ditto
• Moonlighter
• Yoku's Island Express
• Dead Cells
• Pool Panic
• Donut County
• The Messenger
• Spider-Man
• Cross Code
• The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories
• Starlink: Battle for Atlas

Best Moment/Sequence

• Ending- Spider-Man
• The misunderstood text - Spider-Man
• Returning Home *Getting the Chaos Blades - God of War
• Reaching the Summit- Celeste
• Summoning Shenron- Dragon Ball FighterZ
• Cronching- Sea of Thieves
• The "Heat" Moment- A Way Out
• Slow text speed death- Minit
• The "Switch"- The Messenger
• Game Over- Donut County
• Finishing a run- Into the Breach
• Hitting the Pitcher- Super Mega Baseball 2
• Looking for Lenny - Red Dead Redemption 2 ( Suggested by Bones8677 )
• Fighting the "Stranger" - God of War ( Suggested by SloppyDetective )
• Meeting the second Gunslinger - Red Dead Redemption 2 (Suggested by SloppyDetective)
• Reading the Trashopedia- Donut County (Suggested by dialthedude)

Any other recommendations for this list? I finished as many games this year. Do you think there is a particular fight in Monster Hunter: World that could appear? Any moments from say Yakuza, Detroit, Red Dead or Assassin's Creed for example? I'm personally okay with being spoiled, just make sure to mark them.

Best Music

I'm going to preemptively say this category needs the most help. I just can't think of that many games for this list at the moment.

• Celeste
• Monster Hunter: World
• Sea of Thieves
• God of War
• Dead Cells
• Donut County
• The Messenger
• Spider-Man
• Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
• Red Dead Redemption
• Octopath Traveler (suggested by MocBucket62 )
• Yoku's Island Express (suggested by MocBucket62 )
• Detroit: Become Human (suggested by MocBucket62 )
• Dragon Ball FighterZ (suggested by MocBucket62 )
• Deltarune
• Tetris Effect
• World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth (suggested by nasher27 )

Best Game

• Subnautica
• Celeste
• Dragon Ball FighterZ
• Monster Hunter: World
• Into the Breach
• Sea of Thieves
• A Way Out
• Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
• Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
• God of War
• State of Decay 2
• Onrush
• WarioWare Gold
• Dead Cells
• Donut County
• The Messenger
• Dragon Quest XI
• Spider-Man
• Forza Horizon 4
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• Return of the Obra Dinn
• Fire Pro Wrestling World (suggested by Shiftygism )
• Octopath Traveler (suggested by APDLS)
• Yoku's Island Express (suggested by ralphmoustaccio)
• Tetris Effect
• Assassin's Creed Odyssey
• Hitman 2
• Soul Calibur VI
• Astro Bot Rescue Mission
• Timespinner (suggested by sub_o)

Old Game of the Year

Dumb Category Ideas

Don't feel the need to take any of these seriously, I just found them amusing

• Best Photo Mode
• Best Dad
• Best reminder to use that VR headset
• Best Swan Song of the 3DS
• Dumbest Game Name
• Best use of an in game cellphone (suggested by Haruko )

• Best Game According to Gamespot's Old Rating System (suggested by Redhotchilimist )

• BEST GAME OF 1998 (suggested by Redhotchilimist )
• Best Metroidvania (suggested by sub_o)

Sweet lists like last time around! I'll help add some games to best music by saying Octopath Traveler BETTER be in consideration. DBFZ will also be in best music as well as Yoku's Island Express and Detroit: Become Too Human.

For Best STYYYYYYYYYLE, Tetris Effect (coming out on November 9th) should be a contender. Its Tetris in VR made by Tetsuya Mizuguchi.

Sorry if I'm in error, but I think only the first chapter of Life is Strange 2 is out, so it likely won't qualify for anything this year. In terms of characters, I didn't love Detroit (or even finish it), but Connor the cop android is a hoot when played certain ways. He's by far the best part of that game and certainly memorable.

Fire Pro Wrestling World should get in because it was f'n screwed last year. Like there's a midyear cut off date for Emmy nominations, if it couldn't be discussed during the time they do their GoTY stuff, let it move into consideration the next year. It shouldn't wind up in some special category, and there should be no excuses of sanctity of rules because none of this shit really matters outside of conversation and clicks...and I'm disappointed in myself for letting it rile me up enough to rant about it, but god damn it got a raw deal being disqualified because it wasn't certain it was getting an official release in December. If PUBG could get a pass, Fire Pro should get one too.

@mocbucket62: thank you! and appreciate the music recommendations, I wanted to put DBFZ on there because I've put so much time in that game, I just wasn't sure if I was biased.

And Oh yeah, Tetris Effect is getting added the minute it comes out, it's my most anticipated game of the year lol

@wilkin: Yeah, you're probably right on Life is Strange 2, I just wasn't sure if it would get any consideration this year so I just put it as a precaution. Connor was one I thought about putting on but since I only watched a Let's Play and hadn't actually played it I stayed away. Added to the list!

@shiftygism: Haha, totally understand, and it's all good, adding Fire Pro to best debut and best game

You should add 'Looking for Lenny' from Red Dead Redemption 2 for Best Moment/Sequence. I think that's going to be the winner come GOTY time. :P

I just can't imagine Red Dead Redemption 2 winning GOTY.

Can't wait for Red Dead to get robbed for game of the year all because Jeff hates it even though its the clear winner

Spider-man should be in Best Looking. Obviously it won't make top 3 due to it's lacklustre puddles, but it still deserves a mention.

Edit: Shit, it already is. My lame joke is ruined!

Best use of an ingame cell phone

• Donut county
• Spiderman
• The missing

Does Ono Michio-Kun from Yakuza 6 count as a new character?

I know its a shot in the dark, but I want to throw up World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth. Some of the music has me humming throughout the day. The Boralus main theme is just a fun thing to listen to for starters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZSfET6t06Y

I think Kingdom Come Deliverance definitely deserves to be nominated for best looking, its story was pretty good too from what I remember.

Perhaps there is room for a category called "Best game made by less than 20 people"? Three games from this year that I think can fit in there are 'Return of Obra Dinn', 'Celeste' and "The Slater'. I'm sure there's more.

Red Dead Redemption 2 Spoiler (super early and not a story spoiler, but still - fair warning) for Best Moment:

The Saloon Drunken Evening Sequence with Lenny

I wonder if we will get Best Castlevania as a dumb category from GB GOTY this year. Or if that will show up as a Please Stop nominee.

@bones8677: Haha appreciate the suggestion, haven't had a chance to dig into RDR2 yet

The fact the two of you commented one after another is so funny to me ?

@haruko: Oh man that's incredible! Such a fantastic category idea

@jeremyf: I hope they do because that's a definite addition to list

@nasher27: Great suggestion, I don't play any WoW but that's a really good track!

@treetrunk: Appreciate the suggestion, I hadn't seen much coverage for the game so I had honestly forgotten about it.

And I like the idea of that category, I just don't know if it'll end up appearing. I do agree that small teams like that do deserve some more love.

@captain_insano: Someone else suggested the moment of "Looking for Lenny", would that be the same thing or separate entries?

@christoffer: I could see that with the release of the Requiem package and then a joke nominee of the Bloodstained game

@flynnneary: I missed that. Yes it's the same

Last couple weeks' bombcasts have made one new category very clear:

Best Game According to Gamespot's Old Rating System

It's the same moment. :P

@redhotchilimist: Oh man that's so good!! That would be so funny

FAR: Lone Sails for styyyyyyle

They reminded me on the Extra Life streams that this year was the 20th anniversary for all those classic 1998 games, so live a little and give us

BEST GAME OF 1998

@kastan: never heard of this one before your suggestion but it does have some styyyle

@redhotchilimist: You are seriously killing it with these category suggestions

Great job with these categories!

I think Tetris Effect should definitely be in consideration for best music and styyyyyle based on the demo alone.

Where do you think the team will come down on looking at games like the remake of Shadow of the Colossus and Burnout Paradise Remastered? They both have awesome music.

For Best New Character:

Primrose - Octopath Traveler
Olberic - Octopath Traveler

I would also put that up there for best game given how much Dan at least likes it.

@flynnneary: Not to get nit-picky, but how is Fire Pro Wrestling World a debut? There have been several games in that series previously. Granted, it's been years, but it's just a new entry in an existing IP.

Edit: I'd also lobby for Yoku's Island Express to be added to Best Game. It's delightful.

I think we can add Deltarune for Best Surprise. :P

I guess I get why that is the moment fromGod of War that I have seen brought up for this list over and over but I laughed out loud from it cuz of how dumb ass hollywood/video game a moment it was in what was trying to be a serious story. God of War is actually probably my most disappointing game this year because of how many times the story fell flat and reverted to tropes. There are some great character moments and the presentation is phenomenal but there was just enough dumb shit story beats that it really brought it down for me....especially the "your princess is in another castle" moment.

This list is hella comprehensive. Great job!

@redcream: @mightyduck:

Thank you!

@jamie5590: Hahaha you're right, I cannot wait for Friday, it's definitely getting added to style, music, and best game at minimum, probably best looking as well.

And personally, I don't think they'll really give them that much mention, unless they have a "best remaster/remake" for this year, but I could maybe see them talking about those games in best old game.

@apdls: Done and done, plus yeah, I can see it up for consideration

@bones8677: Smart call, totally meant to add it, I'll add it to music as well

@ralphmoustaccio: True, that's extremely valid, it's pretty much why I didn't put Monster Hunter: World in there. I mainly put it there because after the person suggested it, I couldn't remember which category it almost got put in last year, either Debut or Surprise if I recall. Wanted to give it some love though mainly, but maybe surprise would be a better fit for it then?

And added Yoku to the list!

Oh yeah, and how they did that multiple times too. I can understand those grievances though, for me the Atreus arc had some really low moments which bothered me. But even still, for me personally that moment worked because of it's narrative justification and what mechanically happened. Since it didn't for you though (which is perfectly fine! don't wanna come of rude here), do you have any recommendations from anything else this year that really stood out?

@flynnneary: I definitely think surprise works for it. Both in the sense that it exists at all, and that it was--based on others' opinions, having not personally played it--every bit as good as previous entries in the series.

@flynnneary: My moment from God of War would be the first Baulder fight when you don't know his name and he is just Stranger. I think that fight is a fun spectacle while also creating a lot of story intrigue - it doesn't have much emotional weight behind it but I think it that's one of its strengths in this game. I'm trying to think of other moments outside of God of War from this year but my memory is pretty bad. I can vaguely recall the Spider-man text thing. The Lenny mission from RD2 is a good one; I'm hoping there are going to be some missions later in RD2 that rival the "Heat" heist in GTA V for me. I would put the second Gunslinger you find for the stranger mission about the book in RD2 as a pretty amazing moment if you ride the train to it's destination.

@ralphmoustaccio: That's what I was thinking, appreciate the feedback!

@sloppydetective: Oh man I cannot believe I totally forgot about that one. You're totally right though it really does set everything up in a great way. Added to the list