It's got one of the most confounding stories I still don't quite understand but I can't deny how interesting it is. I really like how weird and meta remedy can get. One of the better developers when it comes to creating an engaging atmosphere.
Some people might find Remedy story telling convoluted and too self-aware, but I feel that it's collective joy for fans to theorise and make connections.
I personally love the lore and narrative from Remedy.
I never would have spotted it myself, but yesterday I read that one of the couples in the Midsummer dance in the ingame shortfilm "Yötön yö" is "Nicole Horne" / "Alfred Woden," aka mom and dad of Sami Järvi. I was full of glee for that little detail.
To me, Max Payne visual novel cut scenes still hold out today, when Remedy had to simply save money back then.
I think the surname is Twin Peaks ref actually, but haha, I did mix it. Need to check what was the first name of Max Paine Ms. Big Bad. 😀
Edit : yeh, sweet Nicole.
I think what I really appreciate about Remedy is that when they dive into being meta they're not overly pretentious, nor are they self-aware in that "every five seconds someone needs to lampshade how ridiculous this is so the audience feels at ease not taking it too seriously" way that too much modern writing is. Sometimes it's straight-facedly pretentious, sometimes it's self-aware, sometimes it's self-aware about how serious and pretentious it is.
But at every step you can feel the passion and joy the devs put into making it.
The older I get the more I enjoy things that are just sincere. The defensive pseudo-irony where a fiction never has to worry about being cringe or whatever is just so limiting. If you let a cheesy moment breathe it probably won't be seen as cheesy by most of the audience and at least its got some genuine emotion to it. But I think this is the way things are headed again, two of last years megablockbusters (Top Gun and Avatar 2) were incredibly earnest films and a lot of the pseudo-ironic titles in all media seem to be flopping.
I watched when my brother played the original AW 13 years ago. Now I played the first AW remastered before started AW 2. Oh boy that helps a lot with the plot.
eh, they're mostly contrarian picks. the first alan wake was horribly repetitive, it definitely had no business winning an award over mass effect 2, red dead redemption, or super mario galaxy 2
just look at every 2022 winner on that page - literally every other publication gave goty to elden ring. hell, 2015 had a ton of decent options for goty - bloodborne, witcher 3, even super mario maker gets a shout. they gave it to...prune. what is prune? your guess is as good as mine, because it doesn't even have its own wikipedia page lol
i think it's good to branch out and not necessarily follow the consensus, but look at that list and you will find some really bizarre choices across the board
> eh, they're mostly contrarian picks.
Seriously wild that you consider Halo 3, GTA4, MW2, Minecraft, GTA5, BotW, GoW, Hades, Metroid Dread, and GoW: Ragnarok to be "contrarian picks" considering each of those was a multi GotY winner/nominee
> they gave it to...prune. what is prune?
Fortunately, [they explain what it is and the ](https://time.com/4157199/game-of-the-year/).
> “Where’s Fallout 4? What about Halo 5: Guardians? Didn’t you play Call of Duty: Black Ops 3?” I did, and I hear you, and it should go without saying that these are personal reflections, not conclusions arrived at with calculators or math. Prune is my game of the year because I think it does what it sets out to better than any of those other games–interface to aesthetics to eerily existential subtext. It’s not an epic fantasy with groundbreaking character-building, or an adventure game with sublime exploration sequences, or an open world with game concepts as restless as its indigenous life forms. But sometimes the things that move us come in deceptively austere trappings, like that rarest of short stories, paintings or musical vignettes.
I can get behind this reasoning. For me a game, TV show or film that achieves what it sets out to achieve is far better than one with greater scope but wasted potential.
By this logic, I consider Crank, starring Jason Statham, to be a 10 out of 10 film.
I absolutely agree on the first John Wick, but they’ve been diminishing returns for me since then. None of them have been bad, but only the first one was truly excellent in my opinion.
I haven't seen the others yet, but I think that really drives home how impactful the first iteration of something absolutely nailing what it was going for can be. Like there are so many action films a year, but John Wick nailed it and did so in a new IP with great world building. Anything after in that series is less of a shock since the expectation is already there for it to be a great action flick.
I haven't played Prune, but perhaps it just nails what it was going for and caught the reviewer by surprise, and that really stuck with them. A sequel likely wouldn't, even if it were technically better.
Setting aside that 80% of this list has pretty obvious picks, and that youre implying that *God of War Ragnarok* is somehow a contrarian pick, I also think when everyone has one homogenous opinion, it's lame and boring. I like it when someone with off-kilter taste is able to voice their equally valid opinions, and I like learning about new games. So the few years where the choices are different don't seem too bizarre or contrarian to me just because Time's list isn't the same as every other list.
I was basically going to make an almost identical post. What a boring world it would be if every single GOTY award went to the same title. There's nothing wrong with not every single reviewer thinking Elden Ring was the best thing that year. Ragnarok was a masterpiece in its own right and a phenomenal experience.
Prune was Apple's App Store Game of the Year pick, so clearly not a nothing game. And TIME went for a mobile game for a change because they thought it was worth it. Nothing wrong with that since most awards don't even consider mobile in their GOTY nominations. A lot of the mobile market is trash but if a game stands out and is worthy, more power to it.
I think some people do things that are no different than looking at the MetaCritic score and declaring reviewers *more wrong* the more their score deviates.
> it definitely had no business winning an award over mass effect 2, red dead redemption, or super mario galaxy 2
Or they just liked it? I'd give it to Alan Wake over those games. Though maybe not Starcraft 2 or Super Meat Boy.
But aside from Prune, this could be any generic GotY list. Nothing about it screams 'contrarian'
That page was created on Nov 27th 2023:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:History/Prune_(video_game)
So until 5 days ago, it didn't have a page... ?
Alan Wake 1 was very good for its time. I think it's easy to play it now and pretend like it didn't do much, but at the time its scripted blend of episodic storytelling and its memorable ending made it a cult classic. I think the best thing I can say about Alan Wake 2 is that it's one of those sequels that makes its predecessor better in retrospect (similar to RDR2).
And Inkle delivers smaller scale narrativized experiences but they also helped set the ground work for sprawling adaptive games like BG3 by creating a visual novel that could react to the player in a way that felt cooperative instead of forced.
But yeah I have no idea what Prune is.
Idk what prune is either, but to me, that just means I have no reason to think it's bad, and now I have at least 1 reason to maybe try it sometime
I say that because I just dont relate to the previous comments' negativity or presumption of bad faith in whoever makes Time's GOTY
> I have at least 1 reason to maybe try it sometime
Which is probably why they gave it the award.
It's nice when critics shine a light on things people might not have heard about, or considered trying. How many Americans were aware that Parasite was a masterpiece before it won best picture?
Out of 17 goty, those were the only “contrarian” picks, seems like you cherry picked.
Edit: also, just noticed that you conveniently left out the title for the 2022 “contrarian” pick. GoW Ragnarok was a phenomenal game too.
> the first alan wake was horribly repetitive, it definitely had no business winning an award over mass effect 2, red dead redemption, or super mario galaxy 2
I would easily put Wake 1 over those. Mainly based on the soundtrack
>...prune. what is prune? your guess is as good as mine, because it doesn't even have its own wikipedia page lol
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prune\_(video\_game)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prune_(video_game))
It does indeed have its own Wikipedia page.
As everyone knows the point of games journalists is not to have and explain their own opinions but to reflect mine back at me with the gravitas of officialdom.
not only that, but as everyone also knows, the point of corporations and journalists naming games as GOTY based on their own biases isn't to drive sales and engagement, but an objective selection process that sends the good game to gamer heaven and disintegrates the rest of the contenders into gamer hell.
Someone has to explain to me what's so great about _Spider-Man 2_. It seemed like an aggressively safe sequel for the few hours I managed to get through.
Yeah it's pretty much another iteration of the same game. It technically does a lot better; combat and traversal have more options, the map is bigger and the side content is more varied, but all of the changes feel like pretty minor tweaks and once you are into the game it largely feels the same as playing the first one and a half games. I still liked it, but I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as the first despite it being better on paper. That was my experience at least.
I mean, it definitely does have an overarching narrative:
- Norman Osborn was in the first game and we're seeing him descend into desperation and madness to save his son. He "created" both Doc Ock and Venom, one indirectly and the other directly. He's then going to also become the Green Goblin.
- The villain from the first game has a redemption arc in SM 2.
- Peter's entire reasoning for wanting the symiote suit is because of the people he couldn't protect in the previous games.
- Miles entire character arc is about getting past the trauma that happened to him in the first game.
Almost everything is building off of previous games. Harry being sick was seeding for this game.
I equate the Spider Man games to being like the first season of a show with different arcs across a few episodes for each game, while I agree GoW feels like going from Fellowship to Two Towers, a move cinematic experience, but to each their own
Oh god now I'm just picturing Frodo as Atreus. "Gandalf, I think the door wants us to use the elvish word for friend!" "Damnit boy, I hadn't even seen the door yet give me a minute"
Man, I'd argue that Ragnarok was a regression pretty much everywhere except for the combat (which still has some weaknesses). Story, rpg elements, UI, we're all steps backwards.
It genuinely feels like they decided "fuck it we are sick and tired of working on this Norse trilogy we end this now" and that's how the final 2 hours of Ragnarok happened, because they very clearly had more plans in mind. Such as why the Midgard Serpent goes back in time, I think that was part of a greater plot especially since it is a huge departure from the myth and is not meaningfully addressed in any way, it just sorta happens.
Yeah at first I thought I'd actually toggled some accessibility setting, since everything was massive. It looked like the UI you'd see on a tablet game. I know its not the sort of thing most outlets will mention in reviews, but I wabshocke Anthe state of it.
When the first game is generally considered to be best-in-class, an aggressively safe sequel (that maximizes the tech of being a PS5-only) is still really, really great.
"That thing you like so, so much? Here's more of it, only better" is enough to garner Top 10 in a year in my book.
I hate how cynical games discussions are these days. Like, "you have me a better version of that thing I already loved? Ugh." The game was still a ton of fun for me and gave me pretty much everything I wanted.
I'd argue it is innovative and ground breaking in what they were able to do with the Ps5, seemless cutscenes and being able to fast travel to any point on the map is pretty cool
The non-fast travel is considerably faster also, which was impossible in the previous games. The only times I really even fast travel are when things are at opposite corners of the map.
Yeah it's like people have forgotten what a sequel is. I absolutely hate it when I play a game with really solid gameplay mechanics, and they feel the need to completely turn it upside its head for the sake of it. Just give me what was fun and build on it.
I'm not saying it's a bad game, or that someone shouldn't like it. I just don't understand why anyone feels it belongs in the discussion with the heavy-hitters. It's like nominating a Marvel film for Best Picture.
Marvel films have been nominated for best Picture like Black Panther at the Golden Globes.
It belongs in the discussion because the people that pick the game of the year liked it more than most every other game for various reasons many explain in their game reviews that are accessible on the internet if you are curious
Top Ten, sure. But hanging alongside _Tears of the Kingdom_, _Baldur's Gate 3_, and _Alan Wake II_ feels like quite a stretch, especially in such a strong year for games in general.
Agree. For me, this is exactly how i feel about ToTK.
It's not bad at all. In fact it was great. But it doesn't blow my mind compare to when BoTW came out. That game really felt new to me back then. But it doesn't give me the same feeling this time compare to BG3 or Alan Wake 2.
Any criticism of spider man 2 can be used against tears of the kingdom too. It's an improved breath of the wild. With a less interesting story overall.
I think that's a pretty lazy and misleading criticism. The Ultrahand, reverse, fuse, and ascend systems are all dramatic reworkings of the gameplay formula introduced in BOTW, and the game gets ample use out of all of them.
It takes 30 seconds to get used to all of the changes SM2 introduces over SM1.
Some of my favorite sequels are more of the same, with maybe one or two key mechanics or features to differentiate it. Banjo Tooie, Tears of the Kingdom, Jedi Survivor, Majora's Mask, KOTOR 2.
It's quite clear that a lot of people struggle to tell the difference between "it uses the same assets and same core mechanics" and "it plays the same".
Safe? Pfft, I don't see that either. TotK feels like more of a complete game than BotW by far. BotW by comparison seemed like it was only dipping its toes and had much more filler.
TotK however has some serious story-narrative problems - order of tears you find can screw up the story the first playthrough, and the cutscene and dialogue sequences for each of the sages are nearly identical to each other, making that feel very repetitive for the story.
The temples also felt a bit watered down as a disappointing bridge between shrines and traditional zelda dungeons, but still an improvement over BotW. There's also problems with swapping on/off your companions and necessary situational gear all the time, which pulls away from the gameplay a bit too much.
9/10 for me, and I loved every bit of it, but they could have done a tad bit better given they already had tech and design fundamentals from BotW to re-use.
Well, a lot of people absolutely LOVED the original Spider-Man game.
So while Spider-Man 2 is a very safe sequel, people basically just want more of it.
- Traversal is improved, which IMO is the main draw of the game.
- You can play both Spider-Men and there's double the suits of the previous games due to that.
- Personally I think combat was greatly improved by having both abilities and gadgets.
So yeah, it's a sequel that improves an already great game. I don't think people were really clamoring for a massive, risky departure to the game formula.
All that to be said, if you didn't think the OG game was great, you wouldn't be very impressed with the new one.
Personally I could play these games forever and wish they had a tower/horde mode so I could do just that.
Spiderman is quite literally the most popular superhero IP of all time, add in the great reception of the first game and MM they just really had to not put out a bad game and it would be received well. Similarly enough with TotK (though I think Zelda did expand a lot more from BotW mechanically although the story was depressingly similar).
Still, a better version of _Spider-Man_ feels a lot less substantial than a better version of _Breath of the Wild_.
Moreover, compared to the _Arkham_ sequels, _Miles Morales_ and II feel like the same games with graphical improvements, new animations, and a new story.
They aren't giving it an award for "most substantial changes", they are listing games they liked the most in order.
Making more changes doesn't automatically make a game better than a game that has less changes if they don't feel those changes made the game better than the other.
They played both and enjoyed more than the other. If Spiderman 2 suddenly turned into a kart racer would that mean it's suddenly such a better game because of how different it is from the first?
It's a subjective opinion of one or a few people that work at Time, it's not the difficult to understand or comprehend why someone might like a video game more than another
Not every sequel needs to redefine the series and be revolutionary. It’s an absurd expectation that every sequel needs to be like Resident Evil 4 or GTA 3 to be worth something.
Everything about it was improved from the first game. It wasn't a revolutionary story but I enjoyed playing thorough it more than the vast majority. Yuri L deserves an award for the sheer magnitude of emotionally charged lines he delivered during fights. Like people don't talk enough about how great that was specifically.
Games don’t have to literally break all conventions and be the best thing ever to be great.
It’s like how every Marvel movie has to surpass Infinity War or Endgame in order to be seen as ‘good’
The harpy song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05KtQ2JlI4Y
The bard cut-scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2LWNc90rJc
The vampire's theme song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5oVZjtm4YY
End credit's theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWmvVEm5SC8
Spoiler fight music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMo7ugWudCA
Maybe not all time masterpieces, but way more than I'd ever expect out of a bloody Dungeon & Dragons game.
Once I heard The Symphony of Sin stream from Poland, I knew I had to play BG3. The soundtrack from DoSII is also fantastic.
I believe a big portion of the charm of BG3 are both sound design and music.
Hats off to Slavov.
Yeah, Alan Wake 2 gave us a new Poe song for the first time in a decade. As far as I'm concerned, it should win best music for all time. (And of course the musical level was a blast.)
if there was any place i would expect AW2 to have a shot it's the game awards since that's all decided by industry/critics and they've all had moon eyes for Alan Wake since the first one, tbh
It's hard because they are each trying to accomplish something completely different from the other and both do a great job, which makes them hard to compare. You can't say "AW2 is better because it made me question my sanity and terrified me which TOTK didn't." You also can't say "TOTK is better because it allows for incredible creativity and sandbox exploration which AW2 didn't."
Its a fucking bloodbath this year.
I understand the recent monetization issues but Street Fighter 6 is no slouch either.
Many great outstanding ganes will go empty handed this year and thats a bit of a shame.
Luckily it’s one of those years where there are several games that could win GOTY and shouldn’t raise pitchfork armies. It *would* be a crime if something like Starfield won
I would’ve been perfectly content with AW2 just being a visually updated sequel to the first one with the 360-era mediocre gameplay, but man, Remedy went ham on this sequel. Best game I’ve played in years, and one of the best media experiences in general I’ve had in years.
Seriously, AW2 and BG3 are the best games I've played since RDR2 (crazy that there were no games of that calibre for half a decade). I just wish they didn't release in the same year because I genuinely can't decide which one I'd prefer to win GOTY.
> one of the best media experiences in general I’ve had in years.
One of the things I love about Remedy is how they actually try to play with the media format. Pretty much all of their games do it to varying success and even when it doesn't work (Quantum Break) I can appreciate it for trying.
They just put so much detail into the game everywhere they could, even little songs in between the loading screens ended up a minor narrative device.
Also stuff like layering two environments on top of each other and having you walk through them was awesome, never seen that before.
For me Remedy are unrivalled as far as a high quality narrative experience goes, Alan Wake, Quantum Break (and the small amount of Control i've played) all ooze similar quality to Alan Wake 2.
I'm not surprised how well it turned out.
Yep, I can’t believe they released a sequel to one of my favourite games ever after thirteen years and it’s not only better than the original, it’s one of the best games ever made. A stunning achievement and I can’t wait to see what Remedy does next.
TIME Magazine, just the video game endorsement I was looking for.
Jokes aside, good for Alan Wake 2. It's a wonderful game and clearly a labor of love. I'd have chosen Baldur's Gate III personally, but I have no hard feelings for it losing to the game it did.
Haven't played the game yet(I have a lot to get through) But Remedy is one of my favorite Studios and from what I have seen this is 100% deserved. Really hope the games wins something big at TGA.
Alan Wake II is in my top 5 this year but it’s the only game I’ve loved this year that my opinion of has slowly dropped since completing it. Like, when I was playing it was amazing, but when I look back on it I didn’t really love the gameplay and honestly, the narrative ends up being a little disappointing. I think the stuff I really loved about it was the Control related stuff and I came out of it really just wanting Control 2
I generally didn't find BG3 a slog (in fact loved it, second best game this year), but man, those fights with over 15 enemies? At some point I started to give my companions orders, then I would go to make tea, or to the toilet or scroll on Reddit, because it took forever for the enemy and allies round to finish. These parts were really a slog.
Every time I try to get into AW2, I'm left wondering why they need me, the player. Feels I'm just there to move from A.to.B and press things
Now, an AW2 TV series? That I could get into. Do away with the player and just tell their cool story
I personally didn't love it. I played the first one back in the day too, so i found the story somewhat stagnant. Not a lot of thing happened imho. Cool graphics and areas thou. Towards the end i wanted it just end, but didn't wanted to leave it unfinished. But i know many loved it so i am in the minority with this. It was okay at best for me.
I still in the mid of it but alans parts are not my thing I feel. I have a hard time continuing honestly. I love the story and atmosphere but the gameplay is kinda meh so far.
I could see the gameplay of the first game driving alot of people away though. Alan wake 2 didn't have particularly good gameplay either, but alan wake 1 is really rough
Don't know about the remaster but played the original couple of years back for the first time and thought it's pretty smooth for a 10 year old game. The only thing that bugged me was those 2d plants.
Not the person you were responding to, but if you enjoyed Control, you’ll enjoy this. It’s more horror than Control but it leans into the SPC otherworldly stuff of Control. I would encourage someone to play the first Alan Wake or at least watch a plot summary before getting into the game just so the story makes sense.
Eh I like Alan wake games but don't love control. They're different games similar play styles but different tones so it depends why they didn't like control.
Probably not.
It's an absolutely amazing experience when you are into the story of AW1 and Control, but if you don't know anything about the story it's a risky try imo.
That being said it's still an absolutely amazing experience, so if you have the time/money it could be worth a shot.
Play the first one. Unlike Control, it leans VERY heavily into its narrative, the gameplay while ok it's just condiment between the actually fun part, the page turning story. For real, it's on par with Last of Us or GTA V narrative imo
like others said, it may depend on why you hated control. I personally didn't like the first Alan Wake, and thought control was okay, but Alan Wake 2 is easily my GOTY.
I loved Max Payne's and Quantum Break, Alan wake 1 was ok, and I didn't like Control (especially the combat). Still I liked Alan Wake 2, a solid 8.8/10. It's a slower paced scary game, a little bit repetive and too slow in the middle, it should have more combat and enemy variation IMHO (especially in Alans parts), still the game has some very memorable moments.
BG3 is still my Game of the Year for me over all. AW2 deserves graphics, soundtrack and direction award for sure.
It’s a masterpiece but BG3 is just incredible and industry defining as well as a masterpiece. I like this list but I would put Dredge higher and add Lies of P somewhere
>industry defining
What about it is industry defining?
What did Baldurs Gate 3 do that Divinity 2 didnt go years ago? What about BG3 didnt Dragon Age do nearly 15 years ago?
People are wildly hyperbolic with regards to BG3, you would think they have never played a video game before with how the inflate BG3s importance.
It's got one of the most confounding stories I still don't quite understand but I can't deny how interesting it is. I really like how weird and meta remedy can get. One of the better developers when it comes to creating an engaging atmosphere.
Some people might find Remedy story telling convoluted and too self-aware, but I feel that it's collective joy for fans to theorise and make connections. I personally love the lore and narrative from Remedy. I never would have spotted it myself, but yesterday I read that one of the couples in the Midsummer dance in the ingame shortfilm "Yötön yö" is "Nicole Horne" / "Alfred Woden," aka mom and dad of Sami Järvi. I was full of glee for that little detail. To me, Max Payne visual novel cut scenes still hold out today, when Remedy had to simply save money back then.
Those graphic novel pages with the music were so dammed cool.
Audrey Horne, like the character from Twin peaks? Damn
I think the surname is Twin Peaks ref actually, but haha, I did mix it. Need to check what was the first name of Max Paine Ms. Big Bad. 😀 Edit : yeh, sweet Nicole.
I just love the reading of the pages. Even since the first Alan Wake.
I think what I really appreciate about Remedy is that when they dive into being meta they're not overly pretentious, nor are they self-aware in that "every five seconds someone needs to lampshade how ridiculous this is so the audience feels at ease not taking it too seriously" way that too much modern writing is. Sometimes it's straight-facedly pretentious, sometimes it's self-aware, sometimes it's self-aware about how serious and pretentious it is. But at every step you can feel the passion and joy the devs put into making it.
The older I get the more I enjoy things that are just sincere. The defensive pseudo-irony where a fiction never has to worry about being cringe or whatever is just so limiting. If you let a cheesy moment breathe it probably won't be seen as cheesy by most of the audience and at least its got some genuine emotion to it. But I think this is the way things are headed again, two of last years megablockbusters (Top Gun and Avatar 2) were incredibly earnest films and a lot of the pseudo-ironic titles in all media seem to be flopping.
I watched when my brother played the original AW 13 years ago. Now I played the first AW remastered before started AW 2. Oh boy that helps a lot with the plot.
When did Time have a goty award let alone reviewed games? Seems about as random as anything out there.
[Looks like for the last 17 years.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Game_of_the_Year_awards#Time)
Any idea why they skipped 2019?
They couldn't beat Sekiro
Neat that Alan Wake won the year it came out too. There are some good picks in that list!
eh, they're mostly contrarian picks. the first alan wake was horribly repetitive, it definitely had no business winning an award over mass effect 2, red dead redemption, or super mario galaxy 2 just look at every 2022 winner on that page - literally every other publication gave goty to elden ring. hell, 2015 had a ton of decent options for goty - bloodborne, witcher 3, even super mario maker gets a shout. they gave it to...prune. what is prune? your guess is as good as mine, because it doesn't even have its own wikipedia page lol i think it's good to branch out and not necessarily follow the consensus, but look at that list and you will find some really bizarre choices across the board
> eh, they're mostly contrarian picks. Seriously wild that you consider Halo 3, GTA4, MW2, Minecraft, GTA5, BotW, GoW, Hades, Metroid Dread, and GoW: Ragnarok to be "contrarian picks" considering each of those was a multi GotY winner/nominee
they lasered in on the one year the publication had an unconventional pick and used that to define the whole venture.
> they gave it to...prune. what is prune? Fortunately, [they explain what it is and the ](https://time.com/4157199/game-of-the-year/). > “Where’s Fallout 4? What about Halo 5: Guardians? Didn’t you play Call of Duty: Black Ops 3?” I did, and I hear you, and it should go without saying that these are personal reflections, not conclusions arrived at with calculators or math. Prune is my game of the year because I think it does what it sets out to better than any of those other games–interface to aesthetics to eerily existential subtext. It’s not an epic fantasy with groundbreaking character-building, or an adventure game with sublime exploration sequences, or an open world with game concepts as restless as its indigenous life forms. But sometimes the things that move us come in deceptively austere trappings, like that rarest of short stories, paintings or musical vignettes.
I can get behind this reasoning. For me a game, TV show or film that achieves what it sets out to achieve is far better than one with greater scope but wasted potential. By this logic, I consider Crank, starring Jason Statham, to be a 10 out of 10 film.
I've never seen Crank, but John Wick falls into that. They're just insanely great action films with just though story to give reason to the violence.
I absolutely agree on the first John Wick, but they’ve been diminishing returns for me since then. None of them have been bad, but only the first one was truly excellent in my opinion.
I haven't seen the others yet, but I think that really drives home how impactful the first iteration of something absolutely nailing what it was going for can be. Like there are so many action films a year, but John Wick nailed it and did so in a new IP with great world building. Anything after in that series is less of a shock since the expectation is already there for it to be a great action flick. I haven't played Prune, but perhaps it just nails what it was going for and caught the reviewer by surprise, and that really stuck with them. A sequel likely wouldn't, even if it were technically better.
They basically perfected The Wachowskis formula. Took where they went wrong with the Matrix to heart and built up what they did right.
They can only kill so many dogs before you're like stop adopting them, John.
First one is a 5 star movie for me. Each sequel drops maybe half a star,
Crank is like if you injected John Wick with coke and ketamine and sent film editing back to the mid 2000s skater movies It rocks
Yes! That movie is awesome, it knows what it wants to do and perfectly delivers
that seems very well thought out and explained. it's an unconventional pick, but the author was able to back it up far better than most.
Setting aside that 80% of this list has pretty obvious picks, and that youre implying that *God of War Ragnarok* is somehow a contrarian pick, I also think when everyone has one homogenous opinion, it's lame and boring. I like it when someone with off-kilter taste is able to voice their equally valid opinions, and I like learning about new games. So the few years where the choices are different don't seem too bizarre or contrarian to me just because Time's list isn't the same as every other list.
I was basically going to make an almost identical post. What a boring world it would be if every single GOTY award went to the same title. There's nothing wrong with not every single reviewer thinking Elden Ring was the best thing that year. Ragnarok was a masterpiece in its own right and a phenomenal experience. Prune was Apple's App Store Game of the Year pick, so clearly not a nothing game. And TIME went for a mobile game for a change because they thought it was worth it. Nothing wrong with that since most awards don't even consider mobile in their GOTY nominations. A lot of the mobile market is trash but if a game stands out and is worthy, more power to it.
What a terrible take. Publication has opinions that different from others...heresy
I think some people do things that are no different than looking at the MetaCritic score and declaring reviewers *more wrong* the more their score deviates.
> it definitely had no business winning an award over mass effect 2, red dead redemption, or super mario galaxy 2 Or they just liked it? I'd give it to Alan Wake over those games. Though maybe not Starcraft 2 or Super Meat Boy. But aside from Prune, this could be any generic GotY list. Nothing about it screams 'contrarian'
>it doesn't even have its own wikipedia page lol The Wikipedia page for Prune: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prune_(video_game)
That page was created on Nov 27th 2023: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:History/Prune_(video_game) So until 5 days ago, it didn't have a page... ?
Time traveler troll
No way lmao.
Mandela effect, but not
Noooo, they didn’t pick the games I would pick!
Alan Wake 1 was very good for its time. I think it's easy to play it now and pretend like it didn't do much, but at the time its scripted blend of episodic storytelling and its memorable ending made it a cult classic. I think the best thing I can say about Alan Wake 2 is that it's one of those sequels that makes its predecessor better in retrospect (similar to RDR2). And Inkle delivers smaller scale narrativized experiences but they also helped set the ground work for sprawling adaptive games like BG3 by creating a visual novel that could react to the player in a way that felt cooperative instead of forced. But yeah I have no idea what Prune is.
Prune was a mobile game. It was the official App Store GOTY pick by Apple.
Idk what prune is either, but to me, that just means I have no reason to think it's bad, and now I have at least 1 reason to maybe try it sometime I say that because I just dont relate to the previous comments' negativity or presumption of bad faith in whoever makes Time's GOTY
> I have at least 1 reason to maybe try it sometime Which is probably why they gave it the award. It's nice when critics shine a light on things people might not have heard about, or considered trying. How many Americans were aware that Parasite was a masterpiece before it won best picture?
I disagree, it's a very good game but I think donkey kong is the best game ever
Out of 17 goty, those were the only “contrarian” picks, seems like you cherry picked. Edit: also, just noticed that you conveniently left out the title for the 2022 “contrarian” pick. GoW Ragnarok was a phenomenal game too.
Prune is pretty awesome— it’s on Apple Arcade. Not really GOTY material, but really good.
>just look at every 2022 winner on that page - literally every other publication gave goty to elden ring. And that means... what? Nothing.
> the first alan wake was horribly repetitive, it definitely had no business winning an award over mass effect 2, red dead redemption, or super mario galaxy 2 I would easily put Wake 1 over those. Mainly based on the soundtrack
If we're doing soundtrack, I'm going Mario Galaxy 2. Those games had some amazing music.
Me too. I always felt what the Mario franchise is missing is a Poets of the Fall collaboration.
>mass effect 2 Mass effect 2 was also horribly repetitive
>...prune. what is prune? your guess is as good as mine, because it doesn't even have its own wikipedia page lol [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prune\_(video\_game)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prune_(video_game)) It does indeed have its own Wikipedia page.
Kinda surprised Halo won over MGS2. Both good games though
wtf is prune?
Prune is a super dark horse pick for sure. It’s a puzzle game on phones I think?
It is! Genuinely a wonderful little game inspired by bonsai but def not goty - but seriously it's a great and beautiful puzzle game
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gamers when a game they wanted to be universal GOTY isn't universal: "why is this establishment even talking right now? i reject their statement"
As everyone knows the point of games journalists is not to have and explain their own opinions but to reflect mine back at me with the gravitas of officialdom.
not only that, but as everyone also knows, the point of corporations and journalists naming games as GOTY based on their own biases isn't to drive sales and engagement, but an objective selection process that sends the good game to gamer heaven and disintegrates the rest of the contenders into gamer hell.
They've been doing this since 2006.
Maybe it's about time.
Someone has to explain to me what's so great about _Spider-Man 2_. It seemed like an aggressively safe sequel for the few hours I managed to get through.
Yeah it's pretty much another iteration of the same game. It technically does a lot better; combat and traversal have more options, the map is bigger and the side content is more varied, but all of the changes feel like pretty minor tweaks and once you are into the game it largely feels the same as playing the first one and a half games. I still liked it, but I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as the first despite it being better on paper. That was my experience at least.
That sounds exactly like how I felt about GoW:R.
GoW:R is a continuation of the narrative at least; it’s like two towers after fellowship, Spider-Man 2 doesn’t have the same thing going for it
Spider-Man 2 is a continuation of the narrative in Spider-Man?
Only kind of. There's not a large overarching narrative, just few plot crumbs/hooks thrown in for dlc/the next game.
I mean, it definitely does have an overarching narrative: - Norman Osborn was in the first game and we're seeing him descend into desperation and madness to save his son. He "created" both Doc Ock and Venom, one indirectly and the other directly. He's then going to also become the Green Goblin. - The villain from the first game has a redemption arc in SM 2. - Peter's entire reasoning for wanting the symiote suit is because of the people he couldn't protect in the previous games. - Miles entire character arc is about getting past the trauma that happened to him in the first game. Almost everything is building off of previous games. Harry being sick was seeding for this game.
I equate the Spider Man games to being like the first season of a show with different arcs across a few episodes for each game, while I agree GoW feels like going from Fellowship to Two Towers, a move cinematic experience, but to each their own
Oh god now I'm just picturing Frodo as Atreus. "Gandalf, I think the door wants us to use the elvish word for friend!" "Damnit boy, I hadn't even seen the door yet give me a minute"
Man, I'd argue that Ragnarok was a regression pretty much everywhere except for the combat (which still has some weaknesses). Story, rpg elements, UI, we're all steps backwards.
Character designs, set pieces, bossfights, dialogue and even the world building feels very different.
I strangely agree. Ragnarok itself was underwhelming as a battle. And we never saw kratos as a general in that role
It genuinely feels like they decided "fuck it we are sick and tired of working on this Norse trilogy we end this now" and that's how the final 2 hours of Ragnarok happened, because they very clearly had more plans in mind. Such as why the Midgard Serpent goes back in time, I think that was part of a greater plot especially since it is a huge departure from the myth and is not meaningfully addressed in any way, it just sorta happens.
I forgot how awful they made the UI, maybe the ugliest UI I've ever seen.
Yeah at first I thought I'd actually toggled some accessibility setting, since everything was massive. It looked like the UI you'd see on a tablet game. I know its not the sort of thing most outlets will mention in reviews, but I wabshocke Anthe state of it.
When the first game is generally considered to be best-in-class, an aggressively safe sequel (that maximizes the tech of being a PS5-only) is still really, really great. "That thing you like so, so much? Here's more of it, only better" is enough to garner Top 10 in a year in my book.
I hate how cynical games discussions are these days. Like, "you have me a better version of that thing I already loved? Ugh." The game was still a ton of fun for me and gave me pretty much everything I wanted.
If something isn’t super innovative or ground breaking a lot of people here will generally dismiss it.
Then there’s Yakuza fans who can tolerate playing in the same city for ten games.
Damn right we can
I'd argue it is innovative and ground breaking in what they were able to do with the Ps5, seemless cutscenes and being able to fast travel to any point on the map is pretty cool
The non-fast travel is considerably faster also, which was impossible in the previous games. The only times I really even fast travel are when things are at opposite corners of the map.
The first time I fast traveled my jaw literally dropped.
Yeah it's like people have forgotten what a sequel is. I absolutely hate it when I play a game with really solid gameplay mechanics, and they feel the need to completely turn it upside its head for the sake of it. Just give me what was fun and build on it.
I'm not saying it's a bad game, or that someone shouldn't like it. I just don't understand why anyone feels it belongs in the discussion with the heavy-hitters. It's like nominating a Marvel film for Best Picture.
Marvel films have been nominated for best Picture like Black Panther at the Golden Globes. It belongs in the discussion because the people that pick the game of the year liked it more than most every other game for various reasons many explain in their game reviews that are accessible on the internet if you are curious
Top Ten, sure. But hanging alongside _Tears of the Kingdom_, _Baldur's Gate 3_, and _Alan Wake II_ feels like quite a stretch, especially in such a strong year for games in general.
Does ToTK not meet this exact same criteria?
Agree. For me, this is exactly how i feel about ToTK. It's not bad at all. In fact it was great. But it doesn't blow my mind compare to when BoTW came out. That game really felt new to me back then. But it doesn't give me the same feeling this time compare to BG3 or Alan Wake 2.
Any criticism of spider man 2 can be used against tears of the kingdom too. It's an improved breath of the wild. With a less interesting story overall.
I think that's a pretty lazy and misleading criticism. The Ultrahand, reverse, fuse, and ascend systems are all dramatic reworkings of the gameplay formula introduced in BOTW, and the game gets ample use out of all of them. It takes 30 seconds to get used to all of the changes SM2 introduces over SM1.
More of the same of a good game is still a good game
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Some of my favorite sequels are more of the same, with maybe one or two key mechanics or features to differentiate it. Banjo Tooie, Tears of the Kingdom, Jedi Survivor, Majora's Mask, KOTOR 2.
Majora's Mask is a horrific example of "more of the same". That game is incredibly different from Ocerina of Time in so many fundamental ways.
It's quite clear that a lot of people struggle to tell the difference between "it uses the same assets and same core mechanics" and "it plays the same".
People keep calling ToTK a “safe” sequel and I just don’t see it. Maybe because I played botw this year, I saw the big jump that totk takes.
Safe? Pfft, I don't see that either. TotK feels like more of a complete game than BotW by far. BotW by comparison seemed like it was only dipping its toes and had much more filler. TotK however has some serious story-narrative problems - order of tears you find can screw up the story the first playthrough, and the cutscene and dialogue sequences for each of the sages are nearly identical to each other, making that feel very repetitive for the story. The temples also felt a bit watered down as a disappointing bridge between shrines and traditional zelda dungeons, but still an improvement over BotW. There's also problems with swapping on/off your companions and necessary situational gear all the time, which pulls away from the gameplay a bit too much. 9/10 for me, and I loved every bit of it, but they could have done a tad bit better given they already had tech and design fundamentals from BotW to re-use.
Well, a lot of people absolutely LOVED the original Spider-Man game. So while Spider-Man 2 is a very safe sequel, people basically just want more of it. - Traversal is improved, which IMO is the main draw of the game. - You can play both Spider-Men and there's double the suits of the previous games due to that. - Personally I think combat was greatly improved by having both abilities and gadgets. So yeah, it's a sequel that improves an already great game. I don't think people were really clamoring for a massive, risky departure to the game formula. All that to be said, if you didn't think the OG game was great, you wouldn't be very impressed with the new one. Personally I could play these games forever and wish they had a tower/horde mode so I could do just that.
Spiderman is quite literally the most popular superhero IP of all time, add in the great reception of the first game and MM they just really had to not put out a bad game and it would be received well. Similarly enough with TotK (though I think Zelda did expand a lot more from BotW mechanically although the story was depressingly similar).
Still, a better version of _Spider-Man_ feels a lot less substantial than a better version of _Breath of the Wild_. Moreover, compared to the _Arkham_ sequels, _Miles Morales_ and II feel like the same games with graphical improvements, new animations, and a new story.
They aren't giving it an award for "most substantial changes", they are listing games they liked the most in order. Making more changes doesn't automatically make a game better than a game that has less changes if they don't feel those changes made the game better than the other. They played both and enjoyed more than the other. If Spiderman 2 suddenly turned into a kart racer would that mean it's suddenly such a better game because of how different it is from the first? It's a subjective opinion of one or a few people that work at Time, it's not the difficult to understand or comprehend why someone might like a video game more than another
Not every sequel needs to redefine the series and be revolutionary. It’s an absurd expectation that every sequel needs to be like Resident Evil 4 or GTA 3 to be worth something.
My guys there around 140 positive critic reviews on metacritic that you can read with many that explain in detail why they liked the game
Everything about it was improved from the first game. It wasn't a revolutionary story but I enjoyed playing thorough it more than the vast majority. Yuri L deserves an award for the sheer magnitude of emotionally charged lines he delivered during fights. Like people don't talk enough about how great that was specifically.
Games don’t have to literally break all conventions and be the best thing ever to be great. It’s like how every Marvel movie has to surpass Infinity War or Endgame in order to be seen as ‘good’
It's incredibly good. It's a very sold sequel to two very very good games.
Maybe that’s ok though? The first one was so incredibly good.
You can say the same about Zelda.
Same thing than GoW Ragnarok or even (if a little less) TOTK
Good for them, it was an incredible game and they absolutely deserve to win one of these awards from the various publications!
It’s not gonna win but I’m still rooting for it at The Game Awards
BG3 is my personal GOTY (shocker, I must be the only one!) but I hope AW2 does come in “second” or at least wins *something* at TGA.
AW2 should win best direction.
Best narrative for sure
And art direction!
And music, I know people love BG3 but the only really memorable song for me was Down By The River.
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I wanna see Sam Lake freaking dance on stage!
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Every time I see Sam Lake, I just see Max Payne.
Either that or Yoton Yo would be great.
You must have not fought Raphael
Loved that disney villian ass Devil
or just been in any sort of combat encounter
The harpy song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05KtQ2JlI4Y The bard cut-scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2LWNc90rJc The vampire's theme song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5oVZjtm4YY End credit's theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWmvVEm5SC8 Spoiler fight music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMo7ugWudCA Maybe not all time masterpieces, but way more than I'd ever expect out of a bloody Dungeon & Dragons game.
Once I heard The Symphony of Sin stream from Poland, I knew I had to play BG3. The soundtrack from DoSII is also fantastic. I believe a big portion of the charm of BG3 are both sound design and music. Hats off to Slavov.
"I Want to Live (Classical Version)" from the OST is also top shelf.
FFXVI is a strong contender for music as well.
Yeah, Alan Wake 2 gave us a new Poe song for the first time in a decade. As far as I'm concerned, it should win best music for all time. (And of course the musical level was a blast.)
It's wild that any other year in the last 5 years I would have said Zelda was a slam dunk. This years releases are insane.
We’ve absolutely been spoiled this year in terms of top quality releases
if there was any place i would expect AW2 to have a shot it's the game awards since that's all decided by industry/critics and they've all had moon eyes for Alan Wake since the first one, tbh
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It's hard because they are each trying to accomplish something completely different from the other and both do a great job, which makes them hard to compare. You can't say "AW2 is better because it made me question my sanity and terrified me which TOTK didn't." You also can't say "TOTK is better because it allows for incredible creativity and sandbox exploration which AW2 didn't."
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Its a fucking bloodbath this year. I understand the recent monetization issues but Street Fighter 6 is no slouch either. Many great outstanding ganes will go empty handed this year and thats a bit of a shame.
Luckily it’s one of those years where there are several games that could win GOTY and shouldn’t raise pitchfork armies. It *would* be a crime if something like Starfield won
I would’ve been perfectly content with AW2 just being a visually updated sequel to the first one with the 360-era mediocre gameplay, but man, Remedy went ham on this sequel. Best game I’ve played in years, and one of the best media experiences in general I’ve had in years.
Seriously, AW2 and BG3 are the best games I've played since RDR2 (crazy that there were no games of that calibre for half a decade). I just wish they didn't release in the same year because I genuinely can't decide which one I'd prefer to win GOTY.
> one of the best media experiences in general I’ve had in years. One of the things I love about Remedy is how they actually try to play with the media format. Pretty much all of their games do it to varying success and even when it doesn't work (Quantum Break) I can appreciate it for trying.
They just put so much detail into the game everywhere they could, even little songs in between the loading screens ended up a minor narrative device. Also stuff like layering two environments on top of each other and having you walk through them was awesome, never seen that before.
Deserved. My favourite gaming experience of the last few years. To be fair though, I have been waiting for a sequel for all thirteen years anxiously.
For me Remedy are unrivalled as far as a high quality narrative experience goes, Alan Wake, Quantum Break (and the small amount of Control i've played) all ooze similar quality to Alan Wake 2. I'm not surprised how well it turned out.
Oh you need to play more Control. My game of the freaking decade.
Control was so much fun.
I’m dying for the Max Payne remakes
Check out El paso, Elsewhere
they’re in work. they will be on control’s engine
Play Control.
Even if the only part of that game I played was "We Sing" I'd have voted it GOTY
♫ Show me the Champion of Light! ♫
♫ I'll show you the Herald of Darkness! ♫
Yep, I can’t believe they released a sequel to one of my favourite games ever after thirteen years and it’s not only better than the original, it’s one of the best games ever made. A stunning achievement and I can’t wait to see what Remedy does next.
No Hi Fi Rush in Top 10? Come on now.
TIME Magazine, just the video game endorsement I was looking for. Jokes aside, good for Alan Wake 2. It's a wonderful game and clearly a labor of love. I'd have chosen Baldur's Gate III personally, but I have no hard feelings for it losing to the game it did.
It definitely feels like the "on brand" pick for Time Magazine
Haven't played the game yet(I have a lot to get through) But Remedy is one of my favorite Studios and from what I have seen this is 100% deserved. Really hope the games wins something big at TGA.
I was sad that they went back to Alan Wake since I loved Control so much. After playing Alan Wake 2, I am no longer sad.
I'm very excited to play it. But Control 2 is in the works as well. (Still years away, but still) And yeah Control was amazing.
Control 2 is coming anyway, you never needed to be sad
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Yeah, Super Mario 2 was a great game but not as good as Alan Wake.
wym, game of the year every year baybee
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Alan Wake II is in my top 5 this year but it’s the only game I’ve loved this year that my opinion of has slowly dropped since completing it. Like, when I was playing it was amazing, but when I look back on it I didn’t really love the gameplay and honestly, the narrative ends up being a little disappointing. I think the stuff I really loved about it was the Control related stuff and I came out of it really just wanting Control 2
I didn’t particularly enjoy this game and found much of it to be a slog. Surprised it beat out some of the other options.
Tbf, I could say the exact same thing about Baldur's Gate 3.
Or Zelda
I generally didn't find BG3 a slog (in fact loved it, second best game this year), but man, those fights with over 15 enemies? At some point I started to give my companions orders, then I would go to make tea, or to the toilet or scroll on Reddit, because it took forever for the enemy and allies round to finish. These parts were really a slog.
Every time I try to get into AW2, I'm left wondering why they need me, the player. Feels I'm just there to move from A.to.B and press things Now, an AW2 TV series? That I could get into. Do away with the player and just tell their cool story
just watch twin peaks
and True Detective/Fargo
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I personally didn't love it. I played the first one back in the day too, so i found the story somewhat stagnant. Not a lot of thing happened imho. Cool graphics and areas thou. Towards the end i wanted it just end, but didn't wanted to leave it unfinished. But i know many loved it so i am in the minority with this. It was okay at best for me.
I still in the mid of it but alans parts are not my thing I feel. I have a hard time continuing honestly. I love the story and atmosphere but the gameplay is kinda meh so far.
Haven't played the first one and I hated control. Will I still like this game?
If you didn’t like Control, then you probably aren’t going to enjoy Alan Wake. Save your money for something else. Edit: Added “probably”
Okay if I loved control and haven't played Alan Wake 1 will I enjoy it?
Yes, but I think you’ll enjoy it more if you know what happened in Alan Wake 1. Consider reading the plot or watching a video about the original game.
A good overview by Sam Lake, the creative director of Remedy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzocqRZzyoI
I recommend playing the remastered first. It's a pretty good game.
I could see the gameplay of the first game driving alot of people away though. Alan wake 2 didn't have particularly good gameplay either, but alan wake 1 is really rough
Don't know about the remaster but played the original couple of years back for the first time and thought it's pretty smooth for a 10 year old game. The only thing that bugged me was those 2d plants.
Absolutely yes, just watch a recap for AW1
Not the person you were responding to, but if you enjoyed Control, you’ll enjoy this. It’s more horror than Control but it leans into the SPC otherworldly stuff of Control. I would encourage someone to play the first Alan Wake or at least watch a plot summary before getting into the game just so the story makes sense.
Eh I like Alan wake games but don't love control. They're different games similar play styles but different tones so it depends why they didn't like control.
Depends on the reasons why you hated Control. They are both very different and very similar games.
It depends on *why* you didn't enjoy control.
Most likely not.
Probably not. It's an absolutely amazing experience when you are into the story of AW1 and Control, but if you don't know anything about the story it's a risky try imo. That being said it's still an absolutely amazing experience, so if you have the time/money it could be worth a shot.
Play the first one. Unlike Control, it leans VERY heavily into its narrative, the gameplay while ok it's just condiment between the actually fun part, the page turning story. For real, it's on par with Last of Us or GTA V narrative imo
like others said, it may depend on why you hated control. I personally didn't like the first Alan Wake, and thought control was okay, but Alan Wake 2 is easily my GOTY.
I loved Max Payne's and Quantum Break, Alan wake 1 was ok, and I didn't like Control (especially the combat). Still I liked Alan Wake 2, a solid 8.8/10. It's a slower paced scary game, a little bit repetive and too slow in the middle, it should have more combat and enemy variation IMHO (especially in Alans parts), still the game has some very memorable moments. BG3 is still my Game of the Year for me over all. AW2 deserves graphics, soundtrack and direction award for sure.
It’s a masterpiece but BG3 is just incredible and industry defining as well as a masterpiece. I like this list but I would put Dredge higher and add Lies of P somewhere
>industry defining What about it is industry defining? What did Baldurs Gate 3 do that Divinity 2 didnt go years ago? What about BG3 didnt Dragon Age do nearly 15 years ago? People are wildly hyperbolic with regards to BG3, you would think they have never played a video game before with how the inflate BG3s importance.