So obviously it's that time of year again where GB is winding up for their GOTY deliberations, and it got me thinking about last year.
I still see a lot of people saying that the only reason Tetris Effect won last year was because it was the least offensive choice, and that really makes me sad. I'm not even saying that wasn't the reason it won (although that's more an issue with the process which is a whoooole other discussion!), I just think it's really disappointing if anybody has the attitude that only certain games should be in contention.
I really loved Tetris Effect, and I found the constant reductive "it's just another Tetris game" comments kind of baffling because you can be that reductive about most games ("it's just another FPS", "it's just another third-person action adventure game", etc.). There isn't exactly a lot of originality in video games, especially in "mainstream" games, so for that to be a bashing point for a particular game doesn't really make sense to me. If a game is good, and you enjoy it, and it really speaks to you and what you're looking for in a game, then who cares what kind of game it is? Doom Eternal got delayed to next year, otherwise I'm pretty sure it'd be in the conversation again for GOTY this year. Not only is that "just another FPS", but it's literally the sequel to a game that almost won GOTY 2016.
I saw numerous comments last year saying something to the effect of "I would rather they picked [insert name of game they personally disliked] than Tetris Effect". Like, what the hell is that? You're so against the idea of a Tetris game winning that you would rather they chose a game you didn't even like? Why??
I think there's a similar attitude from some (too many?) people towards indie games, that despite their quality they're somehow "too small" to be a valid choice for GOTY, even if they make it in to the top 10.
Of course everyone is entitled to like what they like, and if that means big budget AAA games, or sequels to games in long established genres or franchises, then good! Just don't discount all the other kinds of games as somehow not being able to compete or even be eligible for consideration. Every game deserves to be judged on its qualities regardless of budget/scope/genre/lineage.
tl;dr - ANY game can be a potential GOTY winner and people should be ok with that!
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