Zelda: Breath of the Wild image courtesy Nintendo
It's November. Which means the spooky fun of Halloween season—watching scary movies, getting costumes together, generally enjoying the fall—is over, and it's time to prepare for the next season.For me, and I think, for most of us who cover games, this is not "Thanksgiving season" or "Holiday Season" in the generic sense. No, it's GOTY Season.GOTY, of course, means Game Of The Year. Here at Waypoint, it's more end-of-year wrap-up in general, because we don't do any Giant Bomb style voting for a definitive top ten list. But don't be fooled: we all put painstaking thought, consideration, and sheer hours into this kind of coverage, on our personal lists and other end-of-year coverage.I think of November as go time. The time when there is still a trickle of big releases—like Star Wars: Battlefront 2 on the 17th, for example—but most of the big hitters and hidden gems and everything in between is already out there, begging to be played. And hoo boy, do I have a lot to play.I need to finish a boatload of games. You may have heard something about 2017 being kind of awful, but positively spectacular for games, which makes my job very difficult (the the best way), and also wonderful.
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Right now, I have some pretty strong ideas about what might be on that list. Prey and Zelda: Breath of the Wild are probably in the top 2. Dishonored: Death of the Outsider is up there. Tacoma (disclaimer that I'm friendly with members of the team that made it), Pyre, Observer, Mario vs. Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Life is Strange: Before the Storm, Night In the Woods, Mario Odyssey, Butterfly Soup, and Nier: Automata are probably all on there somewhere, but I need to finish almost all of them. Not that finishing a game is necessary for me to honor it on my GOTY list—but these are games I like enough that I feel compelled to at least try.Plus, there are games I've touched, or maybe just looked at, that might have a place on there. The New Colossus certainly impressed me in its intro (see above video). Everything I've played of Hollow Knight has made an incredible impression. I've hardly touched The Evil Within 2 and HOB, but I'm intrigued by both. If I get ambitious, hell, I may even find more time for Cuphead.December, of course is the dash to the finish line. It's get that list in shape and get those opinions crystallized to a fine point time. But for now, I have a month. A month to get ready.How about you, readers? Are there games already heading up your personal GOTY lists? Or games that maybe I've forgotten in the haze of all that is shiny and bright in 2017? Let me know on the forums!
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Article continues after the video:
Right now, I have some pretty strong ideas about what might be on that list. Prey and Zelda: Breath of the Wild are probably in the top 2. Dishonored: Death of the Outsider is up there. Tacoma (disclaimer that I'm friendly with members of the team that made it), Pyre, Observer, Mario vs. Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Life is Strange: Before the Storm, Night In the Woods, Mario Odyssey, Butterfly Soup, and Nier: Automata are probably all on there somewhere, but I need to finish almost all of them. Not that finishing a game is necessary for me to honor it on my GOTY list—but these are games I like enough that I feel compelled to at least try.Plus, there are games I've touched, or maybe just looked at, that might have a place on there. The New Colossus certainly impressed me in its intro (see above video). Everything I've played of Hollow Knight has made an incredible impression. I've hardly touched The Evil Within 2 and HOB, but I'm intrigued by both. If I get ambitious, hell, I may even find more time for Cuphead.December, of course is the dash to the finish line. It's get that list in shape and get those opinions crystallized to a fine point time. But for now, I have a month. A month to get ready.How about you, readers? Are there games already heading up your personal GOTY lists? Or games that maybe I've forgotten in the haze of all that is shiny and bright in 2017? Let me know on the forums!