We still have two months to go, but barring any big surprises:
GOTY: Baldurs Gate 3. I don't care about DnD, I have no experience with classic CRPG's, whatever, this is a milestone and I'm not too proud to admit it. Games like Witcher 3 can make you feel like you're starring in some great fantasy movie, but BG3 makes you feel like you're both starring in and writing a great fantasy novel. I might not be the core audience for this, but credit where credit is due, I don't think anything better came out this year. Resident Evil 4 Remake is up there in taking something that was near perfect and finding some, albeit minor, ways to improve on it. Zelda: TotK delivers that Nintendo seal of quality but doesn't distinguish itself enough from BotW. BG3 is both surprisingly and overwhelmingly good. They can take that to the bank.
PGOTY: Probably still Hi-Fi Rush. There have been better games this year but probably none that I enjoyed more. It's got the style, it's got the gameplay, it's got the character designs, it's got the sense of humor... This is how you start an IP, man. It doesn't have the high budget presentation or sophisticated production the actual GOTY candidates have but what it has is charm, and that in spades. The System Shock Remake is probably the main runner up here. Beautiful, tactile reimagining of an old classic, glad it exists, but doesn't quite have the same sense of joy to it. Still not too far into Alan Wake 2, definitely feels like a passion project and certainly the most sophisticated expression of Sam Lake's skills as a writer and director yet. I said it before, totally rooting for Remedy, but it's just a bit too janky and indulgent to make the cut. Though, again, verdict is still out, far from finished with it.
And just because I feel bad for leaving it out, let's add the OOTY, the Outsider of the Year. I.e. the game that's too weird, nerdy or niche to seriously qualify for either of the other two titles, but I'd feel bad for ignoring. What Pokemon Reborn was for me last year. Anyways, this year this goes out to Void Stranger. Indie Sokoban style puzzle game with obscure mechanics, obscure story and some relation to an equally obscure Shoot em Up called Zero Ranger. It has that Finnish Indie Game thing that games like Noita or Infra have where a straight forward premise gives way to some truly labyrinthine writing and game design and before you know it you've spent 30 hours on it and still feel like you've only scratched the surface of it. I'd hate to not have mentioned it in a topic like this. Unless Peripeteia comes out this year, Void Stranger is gonna have this title safe.
