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Let's put the competition for Game of the Year out there
1. TLOU 2
2. Ghost of Tsushima
3. Valorant
4. Fall Guys
5. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
1. TLOU 2
2. Ghost of Tsushima
3. Valorant
4. Fall Guys
5. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
let's look at The Last Of Us 2, a story led narrative that makes you go through the emotions. Hate it get's is just because of one of two things, 1. a fav character got killed, 2. character that killed fav character is non-conforming woman who you are then forced to play as.
both of the criticisms are bad faith ones that come from largely male-audiences. Beyond that, legitimately only problem would be controls that didn't change much since the first game. End of day, it is a game that hits the soul and that is what makes it a masterpiece
let's look at Ghost of Tsushima, immensely beautiful graphics but a recycling of age old narratives of the samurai storyline. It was billed as a tribute to Akira Kurosawa(has even a Kurosawa mode) but does not fully grasp the impact of Kurosawa's work.
legitimate non-politicised criticism would be the use of a dated cut-scene mechanic to lead up to major fights. End of the day, a beautiful game that makes you want to explore the world endlessly, with a decent storyline but one that is slightly rehashed in this genre
Valorant, what can I say. The last time a multiplayer game won GOTY, Overwatch was king. In hindsight it was the hype that got Overwatch there, same thing that Valorant has. A NA catered and more friendly take on the hard ass ball First Person Shooter genre with some twists.
Criticism: no real identity because it is just CS 1.6 with brighter colours and different tricks. I legitimately wanted to play CSGO after every round of Valorant and if I wanted operator based gadgets and tricks, Siege appeals more.
finally the phenomenon that was Fall Guys, I would not mind if this game took the award at all because it is a return to form to the type of gaming we collectively needed amidst of a pandemic. The nonsensical, happy, chill yet competitive fun that we all needed.
Criticisms? well, the lack of content, or there isnt much the game can move forward and iterate. Multiplayer games pride themselves in their evolution and flow of content, there isnt much room left for Fall Guys to improve or provide us
Finally Animal Crossings, our collective escape from reality. Nintendo did a great job timing the release to the worldwide shutdown/lockdown. Beautiful fun escape from our crushing reality but end of the day, there is only so much escapism you can put in one box.
There isn't much to criticise for this game. It was definitely a step up since New Leaf but, nothing really makes this cartoon life sim really stand out in it's genre itself IMO.
So who is my choice for Game of the Year, I think it should be clear. The Last of Us 2, I can't begin to explain why and I would definitely make this thread way too long for normal folk
. But TLOU 2 is by far the best game of the year, you will laugh, you will smile, you will cry, you will rage and most importantly you will feel. Gamer's always want escapism but this is as real as it get's and still is a game, that is why TLOU 2 is soo good
