I do think the reflection shows some of the benefits "reviewer's tilt" can have. Saints 3 is a goofy, fun game that well-earned high spots on people's lists, but Skyrim was something really special (we'll ignore the overlooking of Dark Souls in 2011). Kinda the same for Mario/PUBG - Odyssey is a super fun, well-made Mario game, but it's basically just that. PUBG was the defining breakout game for a genre that is still the biggest thing going a full five years later, and made for some of the most exciting GB moments in that year as well.
Conversely, MGSV is the kind of game that can top personal lists because the gameplay is just so fun, but its a game with so many caveats that I understand why the staff pulled back on giving it the top spot. Animal Crossing was huge for a lot of people during the pandemic, but it was more a "right place, right time" thing than doing anything tremendously exciting, so it really sits nicely on that 10 spot that recognises its value in the year.
I also think there's good value in the recognition of the "one-person" games. Brad's single-handed rising of Dota 2 and StarCraft II both come to mind, along with something like Kerbal - games that the whole crew can recognise the value and importance of, even if they're not the sort of thing that most of them will go for.
Ultimately, it's all good fun and as long as we get good discussions about what made the games of each year special, exciting, shocking, disappointing, and so on I'm very happy, whatever the result.
Thanks to the GB crew - former, old, and new - for an incredible year. Site's been through a lot of late but I've really enjoyed what y'all put together over the course of 2022 and I'm excited to see what you can do in 2023. Hoping you're able to push towards even bigger and better things together!
I love the Eurovision style voting for Game of the Year. But you guys need to do it properly. Go all in on it! Revealing the votes one by one going from your 1 point and finishing each juror's vote with their 12 points.
I back this idea entirely.
Honestly I really enjoyed GotY this year. I've loved it in the past - even many of the arguments (with the exceptions of where they delved more into semantics than actual game quality). But this year gave us a good amount of discussion about all the games, we got some round-robin cutting action (which I always particularly enjoy), and ended up with a list that people could feel content about and allows real passion picks to punch through the lower levels.
As for talking about past years - heck, the previous crew have basically all said they got sick of the arguing, so it was always going to change over time. Nextlander have gone so far as to just each have their own individual picks for categories, which isn't as enthrallingly cutthroat when you don't have to really argue for why your game matters, but I've still loved hearing them talk about their favourites nonetheless. Ultimately it's a celebration of the year, and this year's was a delight.
I toyed around with Dome Keeper briefly and liked what it was going for, but never found time to go back to it. Perhaps I should! Great list Lucy - and don't let the Americans take our precious U away.
This was really good fun. I'm a little sad it couldn't be in person (as I'm sure y'all are) but this is a fantastic alternative! Great job with all the production - especially to Jess for putting the set together and Jan for running the show.
Fun categories, good discussions with plenty of back-and-forths but without getting too intense, lots of very silly deviations and bits. A fantastic show all around (though I had to duck out for the last category, but I'll come back to it when I've finished GoW and Pentiment). Looking forward to the rest!
@charaznablecustom: I'm worried she won't be, because they keep talking about this DLC package being "the conclusion to the Winters family saga" and it sounds like they might be going in a new direction for the next game. Which would be a bit of a shame if so, because I think Rose has quite a lot of potential.
RE8 still a banger game, so I'm excited to check this stuff out even if it's a little light. And to echo others, yes, I truly hope we haven't heard the last of Dan's soundclips around the 20 minute mark.
Y2Ken's comments