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)