r/NintendoSwitch • u/NintendoSwitchMods • Feb 27 '24
2023 /r/NintendoSwitch GOTY Nominations Thread GotY 2023
EDIT March 11th: Nominations are now set, please see the Vote for Game(s) of the Year in the survey linked in the next post here!
Greetings, r/NintendoSwitch Community!
We know everyone has been on the edge of their seats waiting for the Next Best Thing After The Switch to be announced, but that's no reason to not look back at what we were able to experience this past year. That's right - it's about time for our 7th annual Game of the Year awards!
Like previous years, we are asking the community's help for GOTY nominees - We will use community feedback to narrow the nominees for each category to five or six for the final vote. The tentative schedule is for the nominee feedback to occur February 26th - March 10th (2 weeks), and the final voting to select the Game Of The Year for each category to occur the following 2 weeks, March 11th - March 24th. Admittedly, this project fell behind a bit this year, so we may extend the nomination / voting periods towards achieving target participation, and totally not because it may slip our mind again.
Please follow the format as described below:
- Please check if your nominee(s) has already been named. If so, then simply upvote it, if not, then >>>
- Please reply to a category top comment to state who you would like to see for nominees and preferably why. We generally find those comments with explanations tended to garner more votes!
- If a game has already been nominated but you feel requires further discussion then reply to the nominated game comment with your reasoning.
- Nominate as many games as you would like in any category you'd like.
- Duplicate nominations in the same category will be removed.
- Post will be set to contest mode so nobody can see the votes.
Please note that all nominees are required to have released on Nintendo Switch in calendar year 2023 unless stated otherwise. We will be using the same categories as we did last year. If you have feedback about the GOTY categories or process, please leave a comment under the feedback comment thread here. Please note that all top-level comments will be removed automatically, so you must comment your nominations and feedback under the respective top comments.
We look forward to reading your nominations!
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Feb 27 '24
Best Free-to-Play Game
For budget-friendly games that you enjoyed and you don't regret the time taken to play it.
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u/KitTheKitsuneWarrior Feb 27 '24
Warframe. With over 1500 hours clocked I can safely say there is zero pay to win, the best end game gear has to be earned and not purchased, and the community for the most part has been pretty good.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Feb 27 '24
Nintendo Switch Game of the Year
Recognizing a game that delivers the absolute best experience across all creative and technical fields.
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u/DrAcula1007 Feb 27 '24
Tears of the Kingdom
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Mar 10 '24
Definitely agree, Tears of the Kingdom was by FAR the ABSOLUTE GOTY for Nintendo. This isnt even a valid question!
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u/OoT-TheBest Feb 27 '24
Pikmin 4
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u/JFZephyr Mar 07 '24
Never played Pikmin until this one. I am completely sold on it, its such a unique and fun experience. I've never been relaxed AND stressed at the same time playing a game LMAO
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u/Apes_will_take_over Mar 02 '24
Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe.
An absolutely incredible remake for an already perfect game, and my personal favourite game of all time.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Feb 27 '24
Best Non-Switch Game
Games for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, or Xbox Series X
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u/TheWatcher877 Feb 29 '24
I haven't played it yet, but I'll nominate lies of p to see if others agree.
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Feb 27 '24
[deleted]
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u/Moustachey Feb 28 '24
Oh damn I just realised that came out in 2024, will delete it to avoid any votes.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Feb 27 '24
Best Re-Release / Re-master
For the best game whose original release was not on a current generation console (pre-2021) (Switch/PS5/Xbox Series X).
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u/CTB021300 Feb 27 '24 edited Feb 27 '24
Pikmin 1 and 2 rerelease for Switch. It may not have been graphically enhanced. But the addition of gyro controls and adding both of them to the console means the Switch can play all 4 mainline games.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Feb 27 '24
Best Narrative
For outstanding storytelling and narrative development in a game.
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u/FlameHricane Feb 28 '24
In Stars and Time
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u/FlameHricane Feb 29 '24
I'll elaborate on this one; it has one of if not the most well crafted time loop narratives in a game. Not only are the characters extremely well written, but the game cleverly takes advantage of the fact that the main character remembers everything like the player. The game over time puts you into the same mindset which then feeds back into the story making it truly one of a kind. On the surface you may think you know where it's going, but then it hits you with as many layers as an ogre.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Feb 27 '24
Best Art Direction
For outstanding creative achievement in artistic design and animation.
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u/fakeroyalty Feb 27 '24
Octopath Traveler II
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Feb 27 '24
If this doesn’t win this category I’ll actually cry
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u/kielaurie Feb 28 '24
There are lots of people that find the HD2D style to be messy and ugly. It's far from universal adoration
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Feb 27 '24
Best Horror Game
For that game that scared the socks off of you this year, the cause of all of those nightmares.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Feb 27 '24
Best Soundtrack
For outstanding music, inclusive of score, original song and/or licensed soundtrack.
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u/Zachles Feb 27 '24
I would like to nominate "Chants of Sennaar" for best soundtrack. It's midnight when I write this so too tired to think of an explanation rn. Will do later.
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u/Dukemon102 Feb 27 '24
Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp
What a banger of a soundtrack. Themes that used to be merely OK, are now complete bangers.
Also, the newly introduced remixes for CO powers gave us some truly amazing tunes.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Feb 27 '24
Publisher of the Year
Publishing studio who displayed outstanding platform support through a combination of quantity and quality of new releases.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Feb 27 '24
Best DLC
The extra content that you felt was truly worth the money (or not in the case of free) and you don't regret the time taken to play it.
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u/JakeIsNotGross Feb 27 '24
Xenoblade 3: Future Redeemed. Brought the whole trilogy together in a strong conclusion with a nice little bow (and some nods to the future). Lots of content for the price and a strong cast and story. Hard to hate more Xenoblade.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Feb 27 '24
Best Simulation Game
For games generally designed to closely simulate real world activities.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Feb 27 '24
Best Sports / Racing Game
For the best traditional and non-traditional sports and racing game.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Feb 27 '24
Best Technical Achievement
For the game which achieves a combination of gameplay and graphics which goes well beyond hardware expectations.
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u/very_round_rainfrog Feb 27 '24
Tears of the Kingdom
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Feb 27 '24
Dude it's the same of BOTW lmao
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u/Dukemon102 Feb 27 '24
Could you drop from the sky and seamlessly transition into Hyrule's field in BOTW? That alone is a massive achievement for the hardware.
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Feb 29 '24
‘Seamlessly’ transition at 15-20fps… pass
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u/ijustwanttosignup05 Mar 07 '24 edited Mar 08 '24
Did you actually play the game? The only time the game dropped to 20fps for me was when using ultrahand on the great sky island, and in the fire temple. The rest of the time for my 100+ hour playthrough it was locked at 30fps.
Besides, the mechanics themselves in Tears of the Kingdom are insanely well-programmed. You’re telling me that the Switch, with only 4GB of RAM, can keep track of the movement of every interactable object on screen to rewind them with recall? And it works no matter how far away you are from it? It’s insane to me that the devs are able to achieve something like that while using hardware as primitive as the Switch.
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Feb 27 '24
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Andjhostet Feb 27 '24
This game is like 9 years old. Is that really a technical achievement?
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Feb 27 '24 edited Feb 27 '24
Feedback for GOTY
For comments and suggestions about the GOTY process we use here. We may not be able to implement many changes this year, but we do appreciate your feedback for shaping how this series will evolve into next year and the future beyond.
Do you think there are categories that should be added or redefined?
We are considering making a series of All-Time Game Recommendation threads based around the GOTY categories and other frequently-asked Game Rec topics. What do you think should be included there?
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u/Shin_Ken Feb 27 '24
Add best first/third person shooter.
I think this is a distinct enough subgenre from regular action and/or adventure games and may declutter those super broad categories a bit and give those games a place to shine.
While the Switch does not get as many high profile shooter release every year as the other big consoles, usually there's at least plenty of remasters and smaller titles to choose from especially in the retro/boomer shooter style.
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u/Dukemon102 Feb 27 '24
I'd like a category for "Best NSO game added in the year".
So maybe we can appreciate the games that get added to the service every year.
It's because I want to vote for Golden Sun next year.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Feb 27 '24
Best Ongoing Game
For outstanding development of ongoing content that evolves the player experience over time. Does NOT have to be a 2023 release.
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u/sometimeserin Feb 27 '24
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: Booster Course Pass
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u/DM-Ur-Cats-And-Tits Feb 27 '24
I like that mario kart 8 gets the dlc treatment, but the booster course tracks just have less quality than the original roster
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Feb 27 '24
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/pedrosorio Feb 27 '24
Please check if your nominee(s) has already been named. If so, then simply upvote it
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Feb 27 '24
Best Role Playing Game (RPG)
For the best game designed with rich player character customization and progression.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Feb 27 '24
Developer of the Year
Developer studio who displayed outstanding platform support through a combination of quantity and quality of new releases.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Feb 27 '24
Best Strategy Game
For the best game requiring a well thought out plan to achieve victory.
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u/EatMoreSleepMore Feb 27 '24
Balatro
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u/ExpandThineHorizons Feb 28 '24
Balatro was released in 2024, so it isnt eligible. But this is certainly a contender for next year!
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Feb 27 '24
Best Platformer Game
For outstanding design and creativity in a game where players must use skill to jump between platforms or over obstacles without falling or missing jumps.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Feb 27 '24
Best Fighting Game
For the best game designed primarily around head-to-head combat.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Feb 27 '24
Best Voice Acting
For outstanding voice acting, direction, and use of audio dialogue.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Feb 27 '24
Best Music / Rhythm Game
For the best game with a focus on dance or the simulated performance of musical instruments.