It's pretty solid, played it with a group last year. It's from Don't Nod and you can see where they progressed from Vampyr to Banisher's, but it has their DNA to it. Even if the combat may not truly hold up, I think the story and some of the design elements make it a real solid value at $8.

Ohhhh...just in time for you to gift utter depression to someone for Christmas!

Absolutely reasonable, I'm the same, so I just keep an eye out for it cheaper, or hope for a remake some day. If you do play it I truly hope you enjoy the game!

Rarely expect to see Xenosaga on these kinds of threads these days, do you actually have all three games? I've been meaning to replay them for my wife, but just can't bring myself to pay $300 for the third game.

$5 - DS2 wins best audio design
$10 - Jennifer English wins best performance
$10 - Hollow Knight wins best action/adventure game
$10 - Arc Raiders wins best multiplayer
$5 - The Alters wins best sim game
$10 - Expedition 33 wins GoTY

For me it'll always be Xenosaga (or a remake of Xenogears would work too!)

I'm the exact same way! Gotta love that addictive Hades 2 gameplay loop.

I feel like I'm generally going to side with you, with one exception.

GotY: Expedition 33
Score: Expedition 33
Performance: Torn between Ben Starr as Verso or Jennifer English as Maelle
Gameplay: Hades 2

That's a solid list, pretty big fan of most of those franchises (simply haven't played KCD) but the rest are bangers and Mass Effect is my favorite franchise all time.

I do gotta wonder, all of that and no Cyberpunk listed, interesting....

Banishers is a really solid game, my wife and I both enjoyed it quite a bit last year as the story was really good. If you haven't played it yet I strongly suggest giving it a try.

Completely agree, I tune in primarily for the trailers and the musical performances and observe the awards portion with curiosity. And the selections for GoTY seem solid, a variety of genres and quality that's hard to argue with. Should be a fun show next month.

Seems right about in line with what I had expected. I think most of us believe Expedition 33 is going to win, it feels like that's been the sentiment all year.

I can see where that'd inform your predictions for sure, although my experience was a bit different, but that's likely just because of how the algorithm's curate what we see based on what we've shown interest in. Guess we'll find out tonight which 6 it is.

I think Expedition 33, Hades 2 and Silksong are locks. Beyond that I'd predict Donkey Kong (gotta have Nintendo), Death Stranding 2 (It's Geoff's bestie) and I think the 6th could be between Blue Prince or Split Fiction, I think Ghost of Yotei & KCD2 are likely to be left out of the final six.

I generally agree with your six, but I think it'd be wild if Hades 2 got left out given it's the highest rated game of the year & the first game was nominated for GoTY. If I had to guess I'd think CCD2 or Split Fiction might be the two that are most on the bubble.

Final Fantasy X being the one you chose...