Game of the Year 2018: Day Four Deliberations

6 hours, let's go!

The real nitty gritty starts here!

Awww yeah.

LETS GO

Wow. Well here goes!

No write up again?

Well fuck me for not being able to listen I guess...

They still haven't fixed the PC audio issue for Forza Horizon 4 so I'd be personally HURT if it wins best ongoing

Sounds like there will be one "Mega Article" at the end with all of the winners:

Dancing Star Night deserves best styyyle after how badly everyone not Alex+Ben fucked up in 2017!

Can't wait to see listen to best moment.

For those that haven't watched Mario Party Party 11 yet, Brad spoils the result of it at around the 2:55:15 mark.

Jeff and Alex saying "Baroque" at the same time gave me a warm feeling.

Not to say that Brad and Alex don't understand best style... but holy shit they don't understand best style. I'm with pappa jeff on this one.

I mean for the last three days it's just been them chatting about every game of the year. What's there to say? An article that just sums up everyone's opinions on every game?

I'm listening to this now and yelling at my podcast, things like "Come off it! God of War has amazing cinematography too but it's not even on the list! That's not what this category is and you know it! Someone say it!" Basically, this is exactly the GOTY content I've been looking for.

Jeff and Alex sound like they're ready to throw down with each other during multiple parts.

I can't believe they CHOSE to be wrong about best style once again! Not only did they not put Octopath in the top 3 but also Obra Dinn didn't win it. How dare they?

This style conversion really has me lost. I love it.

@brad@benpack Aww no one remembered Wandersong

Hoping someone would at least bring it up

https://youtu.be/T4YKqkgenzc

Jeffs passion made me buy Donut County on steam while i listened.

Slipping QL footage into the game list box would really set this off.

Alright time to grab the knives.

I've got Best Music right here:

Also I dunno why the video I posted shows up when I edit my post but I can't see it in my post.

Also the whole style category is moot since they did this before Gris came out.

Wish @vinny had put battletech forward for best music. It has a real good score that fits the game. Wouldn't of ranked since he's the only one that played it but still.

Yo the recognition of Goragoa touches this old artist's heart. The stuff that game executes on is something almost everyone who draws worlds has dreamed of at some point, especially if they have a sideline in video games. You often want your lines to "do stuff" - do stuff that flips your mind and vision. This game did it.

It's also nice to see minimal budget and unique vision win out over infinite budget and derivative vision. Red Dead's feat is in the Engineering of the software that facilitated all those in-engine cinematic moments.

anime got robbed again

Some people have a very funny idea of what style means

Man props to Brad and Alex for their impassioned arguments but I do nooooot understand their take on RDR2 for the best style category. Feels like a clear front runner for best looking but not style compared to the other contenders.

The fact that Monster Hunter wasn't even mentioned for music is a crime. Sure, it's not the first thing you think of about that game, and you can write it off as "generic combat music", but there's so many different themes and almost all of them are absolutely spectacular. Without the excellent music that game is so much worse.

Why was the Style category brought back after last year?

Deltarune for one of the best soundtracks of the year.

It's so funny watching Alex pretend that he can remember everyone's choices when they go round the table.

Another 1/4-Day Giganticast! When will I ever have time to actually PLAY these games?

I'm sure someone will post the minutes in the comments at some point.

It's kind of a shame they picked Tetris Effect over Gorogoa for style. Especially since some people seemed to have reservations about Tetris Effect, but Gorogoa was pretty much a lock in the category... Also, their strongest argument about the style category, Vinny saying "Which games would be referenced in the future", falls flat on Tetris Effect since they themselves said "Tetris Effect is Tetris in the style of Lumines." If people were to refer to that style, they'd bring up Lumines, just like them. The same cannot be said about Gorogoa, since that was (as far as my knowledge goes) such a unique and novel style.

So much content!

@cyrusraven said:

I could hear everything just fine. Weird.

Timestamps for the free version of the podcast:

00:00:00 - A message from Jeff

00:00:53 - Podcast starts

00:04:03 - Best Styyyyyyyle

• 00:05:13 - OCTAHEDRON

• 00:05:31 - Moss

• 00:06:17 - Dead Cells

• 00:07:15 - Lethal League Blaze

• 00:07:49 - Johnny Turbo's Arcade: Heavy Burger

• 00:08:26 - Frostpunk

• 00:09:14 - CHUCHEL

• 00:09:33 - Yakuza 6: The Song of Life

• 00:10:13 - Red Dead Redemption 2

• 00:15:11 - Gorogoa

• 00:16:37 - Florence

• 00:17:20 - Return of the Obra Dinn

• 00:19:47 - Florence

• 00:20:50 - Octopath Traveler

• 00:22:33 - Donut County

• 00:23:07 - DRAGON BALL FighterZ

• 00:25:57 - Donut County

• 00:26:41 - Red Dead Redemption 2

• 00:29:28 - Tetris Effect

• 00:30:37 - What does “style” mean?

• 00:52:00 - Closing in on the top 3

• 01:00:07 - Final discussion

01:02:59 - First break

01:03:22 - Best Music

• 01:04:26 - Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

• 01:06:10 - The Messenger

• 01:08:05 - CHUCHEL

• 01:10:40 - Into the Breach

• 01:13:48 - ASTRO BOT Rescue Mission

• 01:16:03 - Return of the Obra Dinn

• 01:19:28 - Donut County

• 01:22:20 - Yoku’s Island Express

• 01:24:54 - Marvel’s Spider-Man

• 01:26:42 - Lethal League Blaze

• 01:28:26 - Tetris Effect

• 01:33:00 - TAIKO NO TATSUJIN: DRUM SESSION!

• 01:36:44 - Where the Water Tastes Like Wine

• 01:40:12 - God of War (2018)

• 01:43:35 - Celeste

• 01:46:40 - Yakuza 6: The Song of Life

• 01:50:08 - BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle

• 01:52:55 - Red Dead Redemption 2

• 02:04:34 - Final discussion

02:18:42 - Second break

02:18:58 - Best Debut

• 02:19:36 - Minit, holedown

• 02:20:24 - CrossCode

• 02:20:35 - Semblance

• 02:20:49 - The Messenger

• 02:21:01 - Yoku’s Island Express

• 02:21:22 - House Flipper

• 02:21:30 - ONRUSH

• 02:22:29 - Moonlighter

• 02:24:34 - SpyParty

• 02:26:27 - The Gardens Between

• 02:27:01 - Gorogoa

• 02:27:23 - Removing some games

• 02:28:16 - Return of the Obra Dinn

• 02:28:36 - Frostpunk

• 02:29:29 - Celeste

• 02:30:00 - Florence

• 02:30:50 - Moss

• 02:31:12 - ONRUSH

• 02:33:08 - Donut County, and more Obra Dinn

• 02:35:53 - Choosing the top 3

• 02:45:01 - Final discussion

02:52:48 - Third break

02:53:05 - Hottest Mess

• 02:55:04 - The Nintendo Switch’s relatively weak year (the winner of MPP11 is revealed between 2:56:25 and 2:56:50, if you haven't watched that yet)

• 02:58:31 - Staggered or uncertain release dates

• 03:03:22 - The endless Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Direct at E3

• 03:06:14 - The curious case of Square Enix

• 03:09:05 - The Quiet Man

• 03:13:36 - Sony pulling out of next year’s E3

• 03:15:46 - ESA’s policies

• 03:16:24 - Sony’s crossplay policy

• 03:19:34 - Choosing the top 3

• 03:20:28 - Filip Miucin’s plagiarism

• 03:25:02 - Problems with workplace practice and culture

• 03:37:05 - Fallout 76

04:12:18 - Fourth break

04:12:37 - Best Moment or Sequence

• 04:16:04 - Late title card (Yoku’s Island Express)

• 04:16:14 - Petting the mouse (Moss)

• 04:16:20 - Petting your Pikachu (Pokémon Let’s Go!)

• 04:16:26 - Switch sequence (The Messenger)

• 04:17:00 - Getting your code to run (EXAPUNKS)

• 04:18:01 - The Big Brother level (ASTRO BOT Rescue Mission)

• 04:18:32 - Meowscular Chef making food (MONSTER HUNTER: WORLD)

• 04:19:28 - Becoming the shopkeeper (The Messenger)

• 04:20:42 - The beginning to end Journey Mode in VR (Tetris Effect)

• 04:22:10 - The Jeremiah Compson side mission (Red Dead Redemption 2)

• 04:26:29 - Banishing Leopold Strauss from camp (Red Dead Redemption 2)

• 04:34:00 - Getting drunk with Lenny (Red Dead Redemption 2)

• 04:37:28 - The Pythagoras questline (Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey)

• 04:49:06 - Getting to the final *final* map, and using a Vek to block a spawning Vek and killing it in the process (Into the Breach)

• 04:50:32 - Finding the flamingo exit in Miami (HITMAN 2)

• 04:52:00 - A certain conversation in the last map (HITMAN 2)

• 04:54:59 - The opening sequence, and Marcus’ escape from the junkyard (Detroit: Become Human)

• 04:55:50 - New Gaudi bar substories (Yakuza 6: The Song of Life)

• 04:56:40 - Baby rugby (Yakuza 6: The Song of Life)

• 04:57:56 - Onomichi mascot substories (Yakuza 6: The Song of Life)

• 04:59:04 - Trying to literally piece back a relationship as the pieces keep drifting apart (Florence)

• 05:05:09 - Doing the Father-Son Kamehameha (DRAGON BALL FighterZ)

• 05:05:35 - Building a house (Red Dead Redemption 2)

• 05:06:18 - The Unshaken moment when you return from Guarma (Red Dead Redemption 2)

• 05:06:47 - Arthur’s last ride to camp, and the ending of Chapter 3 (Red Dead Redemption 2)

• 05:16:35 - Leaving Sister Calderón on the train platform (Red Dead Redemption 2)

• 05:21:25 - Every damn stranger mission in Chapter 6 (Red Dead Redemption 2)

• 05:23:55 - Beating the game (Dead Cells)

• 05:26:24 - Encountering Atreus after Kratos’ flashback (God of War)

• 05:32:51 - First fight with Baldur (God of War)

• 05:36:25 - Brok and Sindri reuniting (God of War)

• 05:38:25 - Any encounter with the World Serpent (God of War)

• 05:40:26 - Final discussion

05:55:16 - The fourth day ends!

Thanks, you helped me dodge that one.

I'll bet we're crossing the 6 and a half hour mark tomorrow.

Best moment in Red Dead for me was when as John you are on your way to kill Micah and the remixed theme from the first game kicks in.

@bwo: Ha ha my bad fixed it thanks.

Best style has been perverted beyond all recognition...

@dekkadekkadekka: Holy shit, you with the write-up comment in every thread.

Wow! I thought The Quiet Man was a for-sure top 3 mess, but I guess they picked a good year to release it.

Edit: 4:40:00 Holy shit, sounds like Assassin's Creed got fucking weird.

Totally ready for a large cornucopia of bad opinions on music that isn't synthwave, "filthy" or electronic.

Yeah, I know, but it rubs me the wrong way every single year. God of War and RDR2 are fucking unbelievable soundtracks but I just know they'll get snubbed for something like Celeste or EXAPUNKS. It happens every year. This sites opinions on music and OST's are generally a large collection of bad takes.

Back when Assassin's Creed made sense, the animus was limited to the point of conception of the descendent that led to you.

I don't know if that still holds, but that was the original limitation.

Also, @benpack Flamingos are capable flyers. They even migrate when circumstances call for it.

No one really knows what that category is anymore.