THE REAL GAME OF THE YEAR: Day 2

[@GiantBomb]

Hey folks! We swapped the live archive for this to fix some weird audio buzz! Hope you enjoy the discussions and we'll see ya on Thursday for Day 3!

[@tolkoto]

It was probably my fault!

[@Tolgeros]

Just an FYI: you can actually chuck dudes in BG3, aside from the "Shove", which I think also requires a Strength or Athletics check. You click the "Throw" action, but then instead of clicking a throwing weapon you click any character or throwable object next to you, then click where you want to throw them. Once thrown, I believe they may take damage or go prone.

[@mrspaceman2764]

That's how I use Karlach. She just grabs people and throws them at other groups of people.

[@mrangryface]

"it softens the toss" - bless you Lucy

[@Avioto]

Absolutely insane that they just cut Wanted: Dead like that. Probably the most B game ever made.

[@richardthomas8371]

I'm enjoying the "x presents x" bit. Also enjoying the overall vibe of these goty discussions in general. It heated up this episode with the Zelda vs BG3 ideas discussion, perfectly wetting our appetites for how hot (shoot or work) y'all are gonna get for the final day rumble.

[@wintermute8315]

*whetting

[@sapphic_sleeper]

My secret is... I'm always high. But, seriously, I play Chants of Sennaar high lol

[@Notenoughwheels]

I heard the term clam slam back in 2010, and it never gets old seeing people’s reactions to hearing it for the first time

[@StillChewy]

Jeff said "Hollywood Mike" and I feel like Mike is always Hollywood Mike.

[@gho5trun3r68]

I'm shocked Dan just dismissed Baldur's Gate 3 here as just doing the same. Like I feel like I agree with Dan on a lot of gaming stuff and this surprised me a ton. Because BG3 just seems like the kind of game he'd enjoy. You can make a build that's essentially a WWE wrestler where you can throw people and gain bonus damage for falling on someone. You can stack smites from three different classes on one attack and nearly kill anyone. You can play the game like Hitman and stealth your way through with disguises and traps. Ignoring the roleplay stuff which was already talked about, but there's so many different combat combinations on how to approach a fight that it's been the one thing my friends and I have been exchanging lately. "You know you can just have Gale go invisible and cast Disintegrate on that guy, right?" "Oh you did it that way? I just had Karlach and me dimension door to him and then wailed on the guy with smites until he stopped" or "I shot the chandelier to fall on the oil drums next to the guy and then cast thunderwave to push him and his cronies to the floor below." Like the possibilities in that game are nuts and it's a shame Dan isn't getting to experience that because I have no doubt he'd come up with some very silly builds and tactics that would undoubtedly work. And I'd have loved to hear those stories.

[@vazzaroth]

I played Hi-fi rush moderately stoned 3 times. Once was transcendant and I grooved perfectly. The other 2 made me pissed off and I had to quit after 15 mins lol.

[@thehalfnerd2221]

2nd year they’ve tried their hand at a B-game list and it’s still too unclear. They need to really think this category through before putting it on the table! Good work with GOTY though. I listen to them all every year so I’m always excited to add another into the collection.

[@mrspaceman2764]

Everybody loves Bloodborne now but it wasn't a huge deal when it released way back in 2015.

[@MartianHomebody]

I checked the tape. It's very quick. Maybe he admits it later, but, Tam %100 put Stranger of Paradise on Old Game of the Year. You're on camera, bud. 25:12

[@sleepstar44]

Yo! I'm not sure if anyone played this game called Atlas Fallen, but it's a very video-game-ass, ps2-ass B game. I kind of love it and I think y'all might appreciate it for what it is.

[@definer0]

I think everyone forgot it was a thing, even I did 😂

[@cooloobahn112]

Guys, in spiderman 2 you can literally web a fool up and merry go round throw'em. They can also hit other enemies while being spun around and or thrown! Don't forget that! Lol

[@fredriksahlstenglimmevi3259]

Yeah, but you could do that in Spider-Man 1 as well, so no novelty there.

[@ThePunishersRevenge]

I really do miss the old GB game of years where it just turned into a bloodsport.

[@Clearmedium]

Agreed. To quote someone else talking about a different business but it still applies: "I am sorry... That the only people softer then you are the personalities you like."

[@ItMeDwaeji]

There's a reason the giant bomb youtube doesn't have 2015 goty. absolute travesty

[@marXmon]

Dan, Half Life Alyx brought me to tears... Good game.

[@sportsmonster66]

Too many movie references by Bakalar not recognized, do you like degs?

[@derekgarcia3069]

Conflicted about the final award. As soon as i hear Peter Molyneux brought up in relation to a game, immediately assume that game as far too many ideas and most are half baked at best. If the game fully (or even mostly) achives its goals, his name being brought up doesnt make sense (imo! 😅)

[@MartianHomebody]

I agree. Bringing him up in the category name has a connotation that they didn't really follow through with. BG3 is like, the opposite of a Molyneux situation. They made a ton of promises and they basically all ended up being great. A lot of the lists this year (at least the titles) are kind of a mess in my opinion. All this blah blah presents stuff is muddying the whole process for me.

[@hemogoblin6789]

Mike's a good sport, but it felt kind of mean. Poor Mike

[@pasco71]

Space War was robbed.

[@cameronrramos]

Surprised Guilty Gear Strive and Battlebit didn’t get a shoutout for multiplayer. The former had some banger updates (and tournaments) and in general the community outreach and transparent roadmap for that game has been excellent, and the latter was the breakout multiplayer hit of the year imo. Fun discussions though, hopefully the live show goes well!

[@DJGhostmare]

I’m enjoying the discussions but the one issue I have (which I had last year) is when they start shitting on the previous staff’s GOTY lists. Jeff was big on the list being a consensus that represents the site as a whole, and crapping on them years later out of context is bad vibes.

[@MartianHomebody]

Yeah I agree partially. But I don't think they are doing it maliciously. It's all in good fun, because obviously most of them didn't make those lists. I think my issue.. (and I love Tam. I think he's very knowledgeable and brings a lot to the site) is Tam going really hard for Bloodborne. Did he play it this year for the first time? Because if he did, for sure he can argue about it being here. But if he didn't.. is his reason then just because it wasn't on the list in 2015? I hope I just don't have context, because if it really is just because he's punishing them for not including it in a list that was made by a crew that he wasn't in, that's just petty. But I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. That being said though, his argument for why Titanfall 2 should stay really swayed me and was really well said. I really suggest that they start saying why games are on the long lists before they start discussing some games... for these vague titled categories, at least give us some context to what the conversation is even about. They kinda just say the title, then start diving in without explaining their reason for making moves in a lot of cases.

[@DJGhostmare]

I’m with you 💯 I also don’t feel it is malicious; they are absolutely just being light and trying to have fun, and I am happy they aren’t overly serious either. I would hope they take a step back and realize that, although they aren’t hot on (for example) Naughty Dog games, those games had a huge impact on Giant Bomb (see the Batman vs Uncharted 2 debates). As a result, those GOTY lists were synonymous with the site’s viewpoints of the time. They don’t have to agree at all. It is personal taste and we want them to have their taste, that what makes the team so great. I do feel that when they criticize the choices of past team members, they reflect on how it could be perceived. It reminds me of Jeff G. explaining how Chrono Cross got 10/10. At the end of the day, the review team signed off on it and that’s the score that was published. So he and the rest of the team defended it throughout the years as a “Gamespot” score regardless of author or circumstance.

[@wintermute8315]

I mean... Bloodborne not making the top 10 is pretty egregious. I know the list is meant to represent the site at the time, not the wider community, but that game was era-defining for so many people I know. Like, favourite game ever for a lot of people. I can only think that at the time it was just seen as another from game like sekiro, but it's proven to be way more important than any of them outside of DS1 or Elden Ring.

[@MartianHomebody]

It's not that egregious. The staff didn't play it. You can hardly blame them for not ranking it. @@wintermute8315

[@MartianHomebody]

Well, you're clearly a well adjusted person with reasonable opinions about the opinions of others. So we should all listen to you. If you hate the opinions of the staff so much, find other people to follow. You clearly aren't being served here by people that share your tastes in games. Find another community to completely ruin with your shitty attitude. @@michaelkearney81

[@DripsMalone]

Not to take anything away from Larian because it looks like they designed and built a great game. But, is at least some of the credit that Baldur's Gate 3 is getting, misplaced credit that should actually go to Dungeons and Dragons? What I mean is, shouldn't DnD be recognized for granting players so much agency and allowing for player choices to matter in all ways both big and small?

[@adambritto4427]

Hit the comments section to say exactly this. For a category of "unique ideas", many present in bg3 come from 40+ years of D&D and other influences. Larian have done an amazing job at translating them into the CRPG realm, but credit where credits due.

[@pasco71]

You'll note all the other D&D games, or D&D inspired games, that don't have BG3's level of interactivity and inventiveness. Ideas are worth nothing, implementation is worth everything.

[@sergioazevedo4267]

Oh, great. Donald Minotti inciting a mob at the live show. That'll go over well!

[@takeshikitano3]

Please stop doing all this shoot/work lingo stuff, it is so confusing every time it comes up, I have no idea what it means, and for the last 14 years or so I've been listening I didn't have any issues following these conversations until it started coming up regularly recently.

[@rashid8646]

soy