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)

This past week or so especially I've been thinking a lot about the games that have been released this year, game of the year in general and the categories around it. So, like the nut I am, while I was thinking about my own end of the year list, I was thinking of what stuff would appear in the end of the year categories. As a fun experiment, I'm gonna list off a bunch of categories and fill in games I think would appear in them. If you think of any glaring omissions for me to add, let me know, otherwise I hope this helps people remember some stuff that came out or for people to point me in a direction to check other things out. Definitely not trying to pick a winner, just highlighting stuff.

*Note* This came from quite a place of boredom while sitting in one of my classes, I don't mean to come off like a huge nut. I also apologize if this ends up being a terrible idea, just been on my mind

Best-Looking

• Horizon Zero Dawn
• Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
• Injustice 2
• Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
• Pyre
• Sundered
• Sonic Mania
• Destiny 2
• The Shrouded Isle
• Night in the Woods
• Rain World
• Yakuza 0
• Hollow Knight
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Tokyo 42
• Cuphead
• Forza Motorsport 7
• Call of Duty: WWII
• Star Wars Battlefront II
• Assassin's Creed Origins

Best Styyyyyyle

• Persona 5
• Yakuza 0
• Nidhogg II
• Gnog
• Prey
• The Shrouded Isle
• Night in the Woods
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• SnipperClips
• Absolver
• Pyre
• Rime
• Tumbleseed
• Sonic Mania
• Splatoon 2
• Everything
• Little Nightmares
• Hollow Knight
• Heat Signature
• Tooth and Tail
• Mr. Shifty
• Tokyo 42
• Cuphead
• Ruiner
• The Sexy Brutale
• Sonic Forces
• Nex Machina

Best Story

• Nier: Automata
• What Remains of Edith Finch
• Night in the Woods
• Tacoma
• Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
• Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
• Divinity: Original Sin II
• Torment: Tides of Numenera
• Pyre
• Madden NFL 18
• Horizon Zero Dawn
• Yakuza 0
• Life is Strange: Before the Storm
• Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus

I feel like I'm missing some obvious picks for this category, otherwise, there are some strong hitters, but not too many.

Best Surprise

• Sonic Mania
• Kingsway
• Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
• Nioh
• Lego Worlds
• The Surge
• Hollow Knight
• Metroid: Samus Returns
• Knack II
• For Honor
• Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
• The Sexy Brutale
• Madden NFL 18
• Everybody's Golf
• West of Loathing
• Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
• Echo
• Monument Valley 2
• Golf Story
• Star Fox 2
• Life is Strange: Before the Storm
• The Evil Within 2
• The Mummy Demastered
• HQ Trivia
• Doki Doki Literature Club
• PUBG

Best Music

• Nier: Automata
• Pyre
• Destiny 2
• Persona 5
• Sonica Mania
• Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
• Snake Pass
• Yooka-Laylee
• Night in the Woods
• Yakuza 0
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Cuphead
• ARMS
• Steamworld Dig 2
• The Mummy Demastered
• Super Mario Odyssey

Best Multiplayer

• Destiny 2
• Nidhogg II
• Splatoon 2
• Tekken 7
• Injustice 2
• Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2
• For Honor
• Arms
• SnipperClips
• Friday the 13th
• Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite
• Call of Duty: WWII

• Rivals of Aether

I feel like this category good be broken down into either like, best shooter and best fighting game because by the end of the year there's going to be a good mix of both, definitely enough for a fighting game list this year.

Best New Character

• Aloy (Horizon Zero Dawn)
• Makoto (Persona 5)
• Pascal (Nier: Automata)
• 9S (Nier: Automata)
• FailSafe (Destiny 2)
• Pearl and Marina (Splatoon 2)
• Jodariel (Pyre)
• Ti'Zo (Pyre)
• Volfred Sandalwood (Pyre)
• -ae (Pyre)
• Mae (Night in the Woods)
• Greg (Night in the Woods)
• Bea (Night in the Woods)
• Kass ( The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild)
• Prince Sidon (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild)
• Senua (Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice)
• Jack Baker (Resident Evil 7: Biohazard)
• Noodle (Snake Pass)
• Beep-0 (Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle)
• Daisaku Kuze (Yakuza 0)
• Mr. Libido (Yakuza 0)
• Grace Walker (Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus)
• Super Spesh (Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus)
• Sigrun Engel (Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus)
• Danielle Sho (Prey)
• Scott (HQ Trivia)

Definitely need more input on this one, there's too many games and I'm not sure all of the characters in each. Is there a new character in Yakuza 0 I'm blanking on? Anyone from the cast of Tacoma? Would a Mario + Rabbid cross over character have any play? The cat from Nioh is pretty dope but I don't know if they hang.

Best Moment or Sequence

• Ending E (Nier: Automata)
• Eventide Isle (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild)
• True Ending (Persona 5)
• THE Heist (Persona 5)
• The Igor Reveal (Persona 5)
• Intro (Prey)
• The First Liberation Rite (Pyre)
• First House (Resident Evil 7: Biohazard)
• Jack Baker Boss Fight- Garage (Resident Evil 7: Biohazard)
• Tarrey Town (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild)
• "Lewis" (What Remains of Edith Finch)
• "Barbara" (What Remains of Edith Finch)
• World 3 Boss (Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle)
• Taking down your first Thunderjaw (Horizon Zero Dawn)
• Majima Introduction (Yakuza 0)
• Sewer Showdown (Yakuza 0)
• "Proximity" Scene (Night in the Woods)
• Building a robot with Greg (Night in the Woods)
• Epilogue (Night in the Woods)
• When BJ gets executed and his head is reattached to a new body(Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus)
• Everything having to do with Hitler on Venus (Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus)
• Mesquite (Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus)
• (Super Mario Odyssey)
• Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner (PUBG)

Same thing as above, definitely some cool stuff I'm missing because I don't know about it. I will add the moments for Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus and Super Mario Odyssey soon.

Best Debut

• Horizon Zero Dawn
• Night in the Woods
• Hollow Knight
• Nioh
• Heat Signature
• Snake Pass
• Cuphead
• Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
• HQ Trivia
• PUBG

I have trouble with this category because I'm never sure if I should just a "new" game, even if it's from an established studio or publisher, would be open for some other choices here as well.

2017's Old Game of the Year

• Contra
• Soulcalibur
• Super Mario Sunshine
• XCOM: Enemy Within
• Bayonetta
• Vanquish
• Overwatch
• Mario Kart 8: Deluxe
• Mega Man 2-5

Most Disappointing Game

• Mass Effect: Andromeda
• Agents of Mayhem
• Yooka-Laylee
• Danger Zone
• Ultra Street Fighter II
• Drawn to Death
• LawBreakers
• Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite
• Super Bomberman R
• Berserk and the Band of the Hawk
• Sundered
• NBA 2K18
• Splatoon 2
• Forza Motorsport 7
• Middle-earth: Shadow of War
• Sonic Forces
• Need for Speed Payback
• Call of Duty: WWII
• Star Wars Battlefront II
• Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp

Best Game

• Nier: Automata
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Destiny 2
• Horizon Zero Dawn
• Yakuza 0
• Pyre
• Nioh
• Splatoon 2
• Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
• Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
• Persona 5
• Sonic Mania
• Kingsway
• Cuphead
• SteamWorld Dig 2
• Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
• Night in the Woods
• Super Mario Odyssey
• Assassin's Creed Origins
• PUBG

This list was also me trying to figure out the "big" games everyone played this year and some others that people have really talked about.

(The following categories are just dopey ideas that I had or just stuff I'm not as sure about, such as Worst Game and Hottest Mess)

Best Unfinished

• PUBG
• Dead Cells
• Fire Pro Wrestling World
• Pit People
• Oxygen Not Included
• Fortnite

I feel like this could be a good category in the idea of how there was one in 2012 for downloadable titles where they basically got rid it after. So my thought being this would allow them to give a swam song to unfinished/early access games before they're fully apart of the awards.

Best Remaster/Re-release

• StarCraft Remastered
• Mega Man Legacy Collection
• Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age
• Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
• WipEout Omega Collection
• Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
• Phantom Dust
• LocoRoco Remastered
• Voodoo Vince: Remastered
• The Disney Afternoon Collection
• Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition
• PaRappa the Rapper Remastered
• Windjammers
• Full Throttle: Remastered
• Dragon Quest VIII
• Golf

Yes, the most unnecessary, but it's been done in the past and there have been a crap load of re-releases/remasters this year. Some pretty good, others not so much, so it wouldn't be the worst choice.

Best Shopkeeper

"Best" Name

Hottest Mess

Worst Game