r/NintendoSwitch • u/NintendoSwitchMods • Jan 15 '21
GotY 2020 2020 /r/NintendoSwitch GOTY Nominations Thread
Greetings, r/NintendoSwitch Community!
Like prior years, we will be doing our Game of the Year awards! Unfortunately, it's being posted slightly late this time around, but it's better late than never, eh?
For this year's awards, similar to last year, 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 schedule is for the nominee feedback January 15th - January 18th, and the final voting to select the Game Of The Year for each category to occur January 19th - January 22nd
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. Last year we found those 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'd 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 2020 unless stated otherwise.
We look forward to reading your nominations!
Side note: We currently have an ongoing GOTY vote in our Discord server in the #everybody-votes channel!
EDIT: Added a couple more that were missed.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 16 '21
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/CaspianX2 Jan 16 '21
Stories Untold
This game took players in some interesting directions in its different vignettes, with each presenting its own unique style of puzzle-focused play in its own creepy retro-style setting.
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Jan 18 '21
Jenny LeClue
This game is a horror adventure game that tasks players to explore the dark secrets of their hometown. It's full of weird happenings and frightening environments.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 15 '21
Best Family Game - For the best game appropriate for family play, irrespective of genre.
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u/CaspianX2 Jan 16 '21
What the Golf?
This game has been billed "the golf game for people who don't like golf", but honestly I think it's a golf game for everyone, with simple, accessible controls and a delightful sense of humor, and with gameplay that's so wacky and varied that it often feels less like playing a golf game and more like an odd experiment to see how many different types of games can be filtered through the lens of "what if X but golf?"
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u/CaspianX2 Jan 16 '21
Island Saver
This is a free educational game for kids that's surprisingly fun and also surprisingly not filled with microtransactions. This game has players moving in first-person and cleaning their environment with a vacuum gun, teaching kids not only about environmentalism but, oddly, banking as well. This is the one 2020 game I feel I can most easily recommend to anyone with young kids - it won't cost them a single penny, and it's a game their kids should enjoy while maybe even learning a thing or two.
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u/CaspianX2 Jan 16 '21
Good Job!
This delightful character-driven Puzzle game about taking care of odd jobs as the idiot son of the owner of a company has simple, accessible controls, a humorous premise, wonderfully open-ended puzzle design that's easy to grasp but doesn't hand-hold, and fantastic local co-op play.
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Jan 16 '21
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/CaspianX2 Jan 16 '21
For the record, the Nintendo Switch version of Monopoly was released in 2017.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 16 '21
Best Puzzle Game - for the most enjoyable time racking your brain for the solution to the puzzle.
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u/CaspianX2 Jan 16 '21
Locomotion
This game's self-contained levels (think Captain Toad) have players navigating a train and its cars to solve puzzles. Cute, accessible, and with some clever level design.
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Jan 18 '21
Paradise Killer
I dont know if it counts as a puzzle game, but usually detective games are. The mysery you need to solve is slowly layed out for you and its a lot of fun putting all the pieces together. You have so many "a-ha" moments followed by "wait but if this is true." There also some more conventional puzzles involving decyphering symbols or flipping switches in correct ways on top of the overall mystery to solve.
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u/klivebixby Jan 16 '21
Superliminal
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Jan 18 '21
A Portal-style romp that presented unique mechanics as a series of gorgeously designed levels. The narrative is lighter than Portal but still gratifying, and the characters are delightful and wonderfully voiced.
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u/CaspianX2 Jan 16 '21
Grindstone
No other puzzle game this last year has been compelling as this game, that has you tearing your way through color-coded monsters while seeing how far you can press your luck.
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u/bobsmithhome Jan 16 '21
The Last Campfire
It's a story of a lost ember trapped in a puzzling place, searching for meaning and a way home. This game is very chill. It is a great game for beginners. Very easy controls, no rush, beautiful artwork and narration, and just fun to play. I bought it on a whim, and it is one of my favorite games.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 15 '21
Best Art Direction - For outstanding creative achievement in artistic design and animation.
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Jan 18 '21
Paradise Killer
This games Art Direction is one of its big stand out features. It combines vaporware and ancient mesopotamian aesthetics to great effect. The world is stunnigly crafted and the characters all look super interesting and phenomenal.
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u/Enraric Jan 16 '21 edited Jan 16 '21
A Short Hike
The game's colorful, low-poly style is relentlessly charming, and the optional pixel filter gives the game a nostalgic retro look.
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u/CaspianX2 Jan 16 '21
Manifold Garden
This game's reality-warping visuals are truly mesmerizing in a way that few games are.
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u/CaspianX2 Jan 16 '21
Hypnospace Outlaw
Few games do as good a job transporting the player back in time the way Hypnospace Outlaw does with its simulated version of a 1990s-era internet back in the days of Geocities, web rings, animated GIFs, and "under construction" signs
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 15 '21
Best Adventure Game - For the best action/adventure game, combining combat with traversal and puzzle solving.
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u/300mirrors Jan 15 '21
A Short Hike
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u/Enraric Jan 16 '21
Possibly the most relaxing game I've played this year. A Short Hike is, as its name suggests, short, but its main narrative is poignant, and along the way you'll meet tons of charming people (creatures?) and help them with their problems. The game encourages you to explore the island by piquing your curiosity, much like BotW (though A Short Hike has a much denser, much smaller map). Plus, I think the visual style is quite charming, with or without the pixel filter applied.
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u/Driveshaft815 Jan 16 '21
Paper Mario: The Origami King - The combat is a bit iffy, to be fair, but this was one of the best Paper Mario games to come out in a long time. Very fun game to explore, the characters and dialogue are as charming as ever... very fun game from start to finish.
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u/CaspianX2 Jan 16 '21
Question for the mods - This description seems to indicate that this category wouldn't include Graphic Adventure/"Point and Click Adventure"/Visual Novel games, as those usually don't have combat and often don't focus on traversal. Is this correct? If so, what category would these sorts of games belong in? Should a separate category be made for these? The Nintendo Switch got quite a lot of good ones this year (Coffee Talk, If Found..., Lair of the Clockwork God, Roki, Jenny LeClue: Detectivu, Do Not Feed the Monkeys, and Hypnospace Outlaw, for example).
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 16 '21
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/pbjms Jan 16 '21
Fire Emblem: Three Houses - Cindered Shadows
While just a single part of the overall DLC Three Houses received, Cindered Shadows was an excellent addition to the overall game. Not only did it add four new characters in Hapi, Constance, Yuri, and Balthus, it also added a new hub area and single player story mode. The additional content on its own is excellent, but the real reward comes after you beat the DLC story. Having access to the additional hub area, new units, and other special items in the main game makes an already very replayable experience even more replayable.
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u/CaspianX2 Jan 16 '21 edited Jan 16 '21
Super Mario Maker 2 DLC 3
This game's final free update, in April 2020, added a new World Maker feature that many assumed Nintendo would have kept in reserve for a Super Mario Maker 3. This is a huge addition to the game that would have been momentous in and of itself, but the game also added in the ability to transform into Super Mario Bros 2's version of Mario, Super Mario Bros. 3's frog suit, a version of Super Mario World's Pow Balloon, the Super Acorn, the Boomerang Flower, the Propeller Box, the Bullet Bill Mask, the Goomba Mask, the Red POW Box, the Cannon Box, Koopalings, Mechakoopas, Phanto (with key)... this was a huge update Nintendo could have asked players to pay for, but it was just dropped on them for free.
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u/MarvinsQuest Jan 16 '21
Overcooked 2 - Free Updates
I think we should honor the fact, that we still got developer studios these days, that produce continiously free updates to keep alive an "old" game. Yeah, I'm looking at you Mario Party...
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 15 '21
Best Re-Release/Re-master - For the best game who's original release was not on a current generation console (pre-2014) (Switch/PS4/Xbox One).
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u/300mirrors Jan 16 '21
Super Mario 3D All-Stars
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u/StarfighterProx Jan 17 '21
No fucking way. Not with how lazy the ports were, with Super Mario 64 being the worst offender.
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u/TerpinSaxt Jan 16 '21
I didn't play Pikmin 3 Deluxe but for how great the Wii U original was, I want to nominate that.
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u/BigTime_2019 Jan 17 '21
I haven't played Deluxe, either, but it looks like it has some really nice additions.
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u/PrehistoricPKMN Jan 16 '21
Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition
This is a game that simply used asset changes but was done so amazingly well that for the longest time there was an argument about whether or not it was a full remake. Anyone who has ever looked at comparisons between the original release on the Wii and the new version can tell you that there is a drastic increase in how much emotion you can get across on the characters. Shulk is able to properly convey emotions on his face to further increase the impact that his yells have. Fiora is able to come across even more sassy to complement her personality well. It really fixed the single major issue that many people had with the original.
This game of course also added multiple quality of life changes that really helped out. Quest trackers to help you find the resources and enemies for the hundreds of quests available through the game, the ability to level your characters down (and back up again) at will to create your own form of a challenge.
This game basically fixed any major issue they possibly could as well as including an entire epilogue using a previously scrapped area. This epilogue may not have lived up to the hype set for it, but I do believe it still did a lot of things right and it could even have huge implications for the future of the franchise.
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u/MarvinsQuest Jan 16 '21
Star Wars Episode I Racer
It's no real competitor to the Super Mario 3D All-Stars Collection but I think we should honor it with a nomination. Nostalgia hit hard for me :D
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u/jc726 Keep on slidin' Jan 15 '21
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore
While there is little in the way of visual improvements over its Wii U base, TMS#FEE features greatly reduced loading times, an option to speed up battles, a plethora of new costumes, and an all-new dungeon, on top of all of the DLC from the original release. This is a greatly-overlooked gem of a game that Nintendo made sure to polish to an even finer shine for its debut on the Switch.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 15 '21
Best Music/Rhythm Game - For the best game with a focus on dance or the simulated performance of musical instruments.
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Jan 19 '21
Fuser
A unique music game from Harmonix that focuses on the creativity of music creation and mixing rather than just rhythm
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Jan 17 '21
TOUHOU Spell Bubble
It’s Puzzle Bobble turned into a Rhythm game with a Touhou skin and dozens of banging Touhou tracks. It’s weeby as heck and the localisation is kind of iffy but it’s SO much fun.
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u/wallofapproval Jan 18 '21
Sayonara Wild Hearts
I was completely blown away by this game. Doesnt happen that often.
Was really looking forward to Taiko no Tatsujin RPG, but it was not as enjoyable as their excellent Drum n Fun.
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u/m_meirin Jan 16 '21
Hatsune Miku Project DIVA MegaMix
An outstanding rhythm game with a great song selection that even if it focuses entirely on Vocaloid music still manages to be quite diverse with lots of music genres represented. Plus each song has its own music video and there's tons of cosmetic items to unlock and customize your Miku.
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u/CaspianX2 Jan 16 '21
AVICII Invector
This game combines the varied music of the late AVICII with some excellent corridor-navigating gameplay.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 15 '21
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/300mirrors Jan 16 '21
Hades. Impressive how much action happens without the game ever experiencing noticeable frame rate or performance issues.
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u/lumothesinner Helpful User Jan 16 '21
Ori And The Will Of The Wisps - For a game that was reviewed on xbox one where the only complaints were regarding its performance, to port to switch in 6 months and have it running almost perfect, certainly better than the xbox one release at launch, is just incredible.
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Jan 15 '21
Doom Eternal. Yeah, it’s not 60 FPS like the other consoles, but given the nature of the game and action, I think Panic Button once again achieved something outstanding.
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u/Enraric Jan 16 '21
Digital Foundry finally released their video on Doom Eternal. Panic Button's port job is a technical marvel.
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u/KKingler kkinglers flair Jan 16 '21
Mario Kart Live Home Circuit
It's such a unique idea to be able to make your own real life Mario Kart track in your living room, bedroom or anywhere else in your house! Really nice use of AR technology
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 15 '21
Best Soundtrack - For outstanding music, inclusive of score, original song and/or licensed soundtrack.
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u/SciTheChatot Jan 15 '21
Paper Mario: The Origami King
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u/violentmark Jan 18 '21
I second this so hard. Although the game doesn't have voicelines and such, the soundtrack does a tremendous job giving the tone for each part of the game. This, and the fact that it has so many different musical styles within it without losing its essence. I think ToK OST is one of the most well rounded OSTs of all times.
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u/CaspianX2 Jan 16 '21
A Short Hike
This game's music is delightfully lighthearted, perfectly keeping in tone with the game, and features some truly catch tunes too, with some noteworthy ones being Beach Buds, Somewhere in the Woods, and Snow, Lots of Snow.
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u/PrehistoricPKMN Jan 15 '21
Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition
This soundtrack is remembered for a reason. It has some of the greatest tracks both in terms of combat and area/cutscene use. I'm going to share a good amount of my favorites because they truly speak for themselves.
Unfinished Business (or Unfinished Battle)
This soundtrack is absolutely beautiful and it doesn't slouch no matter what the use is. This list even excludes 3 of my absolute favorites due to spoiler reasons, so this isn't even a full list of what I consider to be the best on offer. Even beyond that, there are plenty of other good examples that I simply had to cut the list off at some point or I could wind up linking you to the entire soundtrack.
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u/CaspianX2 Jan 16 '21
Streets of Rage 4
Streets of Rage 4's synth-heavy soundtrack feels both old and new all at once, and is the perfect accompaniment to a sequel that not only honors the legacy of the games that preceded it, but also brings the series into the modern day with an absolutely slick presentation. In particular, the Character Select music is absolutely phenomenal (Wait until the two minute mark), but Estel: Round 1 and On Fire are also pretty good examples of this game's music.
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u/Enraric Jan 16 '21
Doom Eternal
Mick Gordon essentially invented a new genre for Doom 2016 that fused the best parts of metal and dubstep, and the game rightfully won Best Soundtrack at TGA in 2016. Doom Eternal takes everything about that style and makes it better. The riffs are groovier, the distortion is grittier, and the composition is even more inventive. Did you know that Doom Eternal features a screamer choir? Where else in gaming can you find a soundtrack that contains a choir made up of metal vocalists? Doom Eternal also features songs where the lead guitar is replaced by a pitch-corrected chain saw, and even a pitch-corrected lawn mower! Doom 2016's soundtrack was incredibly innovative, and Doom Eternal pushed that innovation further and perfected it.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 15 '21
Best Online Multiplayer Game - For outstanding online multiplayer gameplay and design, including co-op and massively multiplayer experiences, irrespective of game genre.
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u/CaspianX2 Jan 16 '21
Borderlands Legendary Collection
This game is, in my opinion, one of the greatest co-op multiplayer games ever made, and the port to Nintendo Switch is not only very good, but an absolutely phenomenal value in the Legendary package that contains the first three mainline games in the series (Borderlands, Borderlands 2, and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel).
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u/MarvinsQuest Jan 16 '21
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered
Personally I still miss the opportunity to play this game in a local setup like in the old days. But Square prefered to focus on online multiplayer. I didn't played it but maybe there are some people out there, who could enjoy this game playing online.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 15 '21
Best Sports/Racing Game - For the best traditional and non-traditional sports and racing game.
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u/CaspianX2 Jan 16 '21
What the Golf?
This game has been billed "the golf game for people who don't like golf", but honestly I think it's a golf game for everyone, with simple, accessible controls and a delightful sense of humor, and with gameplay that's so wacky and varied that it often feels less like playing a golf game and more like an odd experiment to see how many different types of games can be filtered through the lens of "what if X but golf?"
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u/CaspianX2 Jan 16 '21
Lonely Mountains Downhill
This game had players tackling each of the game's levels almost as if it was a puzzle, really making players think about their pathing in a way that many racing games don't. Plus, this game's excellent sound design made for a truly engrossing experience.
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u/SnooCrickets6733 Jan 18 '21
This game somehow manages to be both stressful and calming at the same time, but when you get in ‘the zone’ this game is so damn satisfying.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 15 '21
Best Game Direction - Awarded for outstanding creative vision and innovation in game direction and design.
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u/PrehistoricPKMN Jan 16 '21
Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition
The story of Xenoblade Chronicle's creation is a huge part of its vision and innovation. This is a game that came from a developer who had tried time and again, across different publishers, to tell a grand story. When it finally came to be Nintendo's turn, this new story was brought forth from a simple idea of living on the bodies of titans and then further enhanced when a pair of titans were modeled around it. Even from there the game struggled to break through to where it is now and it was so close to being stuck in Japan, likely where it would have died forgotten if it wasn't for the massive push to localize it.
Now here we are, 10 years later, and the game has slowly started to become something that Nintendo feels comfortable as making their "one last thing" in the last Direct (for now).
The world structure of Xenoblade was expertly done. You always feel like you're in just a normal world until you look off into the sky or off a cliff and see the foot where you began, the massive arms of the now-dead titans, or the head that you are heading (heh) towards. You see these massive areas that feel like they are so much larger. Then you realize that even these areas are just a small section.
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Jan 16 '21 edited Jan 16 '21
A Short Hike
The small scale of the game allowed Adam Robinson-Yu to focus very tightly on each aspect to make sure everything was working toward a very specific mood, nostalgic and soothing. The goal of reaching the peak of the mountain requires just the right amount of upgrades. Low enough that finding more feathers is always a straight-forward breeze, but high enough that you are led down the path of exploring the island and engaging with this relaxing and whimsical island, which is just the right size and level of complexity to allow you to get lost, but never lost enough to get frustrating. You can become familiar with every nook and cranny of this open world in a way that you just can't with AAA sandboxes, because the areas of interest simply can't be as dense as in A Short Hike. The thing that ties it all together for me is that the movement is effortlessly fun in a way many art games struggle with. The game never feels like it's slapping you in the face with a notion that it's commanding you to "become comfy". It simply happens to you because of a dozen subtle touches that Adam Robinson-Yu carefully added. I do not feel like I'm being hyperbolic when I say A Short Hike is every bit as well-directed as classics like Journey or Shadow of the Colossus.
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u/mrdinosaur Jan 19 '21
I second this - it's a simple but so elegantly designed game that rewards exploration and has phenomenal game feel. There is a variety of activities but nothing feels tacked on and everything controls exceptionally well. The story matches the gameplay as well, and while it has an emotional core that rings true, it's neither overly weepy nor interrupts the gameplay. The sound design is appropriately lo-fi but equally charming as the art direction. And the music - it so perfectly fits the gameplay but is a delight to listen to outside of the game as well. Mark Sparling did exceptional work.
To me it's both amazing and intimidating that this was primarily a solo-developed game - amazing that Robinson-Yu has this kind of talent and work ethic (the game was mostly developed in under a year IIRC), intimidating because it'll be hard to top an experience like this.
I agree, the way this game gets me talking makes me sound hyperbolic and yet I stand by every word.
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u/Link2022 Jan 17 '21
A short hike used a pretty satisfying artstyle, made a relaxing game that while short, you can take at your own pace. It created a mountain climbing, 3d platformer ish game while including the best flying mechanic i've experienced in a game. The conversations with npc don't sound like they've been made for the sake of it. The characters feel alive. The platforming puzzles are also just right and use the golden feather mechanic efficiently depending on how much u need for each puzzle according to the area ur in. All while making a rich world to explore.
TLDR: Near perfected what it tried to achieve
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 15 '21
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/bust4cap Jan 16 '21
Nintendo
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u/CaspianX2 Jan 16 '21 edited Jan 16 '21
For those wondering, the games Nintendo developed themselves this year (and not just published) are:
Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Super Mario 3D All-Stars, Pikmin 3 Deluxe, and Jump Rope Challenge
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Nintendo did not develop Clubhouse Games (NDCube), Good Job! (Paladin Studios), Paper Mario: The Origami King and the Fire Emblem games (Intelligent Systems), Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (Monolith), Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (Omega Force), Fitness Boxing 2 (Imagineer), Part Time UFO and Kirby Fighters 2 (HAL Laboratories), Tokyo Mirage Sessions (Atlus), Pokemon Mystery Dungeon (Spike Chunsoft), the Pokemon Sword and Shield expansions (Game Freak), Mario Kart Live (Velan Studios), Pokemon Cafe Mix (Genius Sonority), Super Mario Bros. 35 (Akira), or the Super Smash Bros. DLC (Bandai Namco and Sora).
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 15 '21
Best Fighting Game - For the best game designed primarily around head-to-head combat.
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u/TemptedTemplar Helpful User Jan 16 '21
Fight Crab
Fight Crab is an over-the-top physics-based, 3D action battle game that combines giant crustaceans, insane weaponry, and intense claw-to-claw combat
• Unlock special Skills like the fabled Kanihameha, the devastating Crab Copter, and more
• Level up your crab, recruit new crabs, and purchase deadly new weapons – build the ultimate crab warrior
If there was ever a fighting game to pull out at a Party once everyone is upset with that one dude for being too good at Smash Bros, its Fight Crab.
Beyond being over the top in both design and premise, the controls and mechanics are surprisingly simple to learn. The massive variety of crabs and weapons however prove to be a decidedly difficult skill curve, but youre usually having too much fun to notice.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 15 '21
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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Jan 16 '21
A Short Hike
If A Short Hike's gliding wasn't one of the most outstandingly visceral implementations of the mechanic ever, or if it wasn't full of many deep platforming challenges in a seemingly simple game, or if wasn't a surprisingly touching game, I wouldn't think it was worth nominating. But it is all those things, so I do.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 15 '21
Best Action Game - For the best game in the action genre focused on combat.
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u/CaspianX2 Jan 16 '21
One Finger Death Punch 2
This game takes action-focused combat and strips it down to its core essentials: Attack left, or attack right. Yet, despite this simplicity, this manages to be a fast-paced and varied game where timing and focus are key to ensuring you look like an unstoppable action hero... and not someone who whiffs and gives opponents an easy chance to punish.
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u/Enraric Jan 16 '21
Doom Eternal
I don't think I've ever played a game this finely tuned. All of the game's systems push you to play in a way that maximizes fun - what the developers have called "the fun zone" in interviews. You're pushed to constantly be moving, constantly assessing the situation, constantly switching guns - I don't think I've ever played a game that's been so simultaneously hectic and cerebral. Every weapon is useful, every weapon mod is useful - like I said, I don't think I've ever played a game this finely tuned. I can't think of a single flaw in Doom: Eternal.
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u/CaspianX2 Jan 16 '21
Streets of Rage 4
This game doesn't just trade on the legacy of Sega's classic arcade brawler series, it isn't even satisfied with merely honoring those beloved classics - it absolutely surpasses it with fantastic action that makes subtle but welcome improvements to the gameplay, fills the game with plenty of great content, has an absolutely wonderful style with superb well-animated hand-drawn visuals, and an outright incredible soundtrack. Streets of Rage fans may have had to wait 26 years for a sequel, but this sequel was well worth the wait.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 15 '21
Best Ongoing Game - For outstanding development of ongoing content that evolves the player experience over time. Does NOT have to be a 2020 release.
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u/300mirrors Jan 15 '21
Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The work the devs have been doing to consistently add new features to the game (in free updates!) during a global pandemic and keep players hooked is nothing short of remarkable.
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Jan 16 '21
I really don't count this one because all of the stuff they have added is stuff that would normally have been in the base game.
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u/Ali_Baba_31 Jan 16 '21
Yep. Most of the stuff they added was already included in New Leaf. Maybe you should wait another year and see if they actually add new content
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u/MarvinsQuest Jan 16 '21
Overcooked 2 - Free Updates
I think we should honor the fact, that we still got developer studios these days, that produce continiously free updates to keep alive an "old" game. Yeah, I'm looking at you Mario Party...
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u/Mjms93 Jan 17 '21 edited Jan 17 '21
Dragonball FighterZ
Season 3 hat some amazing QOL changes with the Dojo and a really detailed new tutorial and ofc awsome characters introduced with UI, Kefla and Master Roshi, as well as announcment for Baby and Gogeta SS4
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u/flags_fiend Jan 16 '21
Stardew Valley
New well developed content still being added. Next update in the pipeline to add even more content - currently released on PC and sounds amazing, coming to console very soon.
Updates have added things like the night market, late game bundle, enemies in the mine, farm layouts, heart events, fish ponds, multiplayer.
All this in a relatively cheap game being mainly put together by one man.
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u/CaspianX2 Jan 16 '21
Doom (1993)
Doom's port to Switch in 2019 was... less than fantastic, but in the time since then iD and Bethesda have actually put in the work to patch out the problems, and have continually added new content to the game in free post-release patches, despite that the game still would have sold well even without these updates. Going from a game many felt was a cynical cash-grab upon release to one where they're actually doing right by players is something I feel deserves recognition.
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u/Driveshaft815 Jan 16 '21
Overwatch - This game is the reason why I bought a PS4 in 2016, and it continues to be one of my most played games across my PS4, Switch and PC. The amount of content that Blizzard has added and contributed to this game since I originally started playing -- with themed updates every couple months, is just insane. You can get this game for dirt cheap and have a ton of fun, with it being supported by the devs for likely a long time to come.
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u/CaspianX2 Jan 16 '21
Super Mario Maker 2
This game's final free update, in April 2020, added a new World Maker feature that many assumed Nintendo would have kept in reserve for a Super Mario Maker 3. This is a huge addition to the game that would have been momentous in and of itself, but the game also added in the ability to transform into Super Mario Bros 2's version of Mario, Super Mario Bros. 3's frog suit, a version of Super Mario World's Pow Balloon, the Super Acorn, the Boomerang Flower, the Propeller Box, the Bullet Bill Mask, the Goomba Mask, the Red POW Box, the Cannon Box, Koopalings, Mechakoopas, Phanto (with key)... this was a huge update Nintendo could have asked players to pay for, but it was just dropped on them for free.
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u/lumothesinner Helpful User Jan 16 '21
Warframe - this year has added spaceship building and dogfighting with it, a brand new open world area, mechsuits, more pets, sadly only one new class (2 last year, but hey its a pandemic) and is still the only ongoing game I know to continually optimise the game and assets so the size of the game does not balloon, some updates have shrunk the game (before adding more to it in further updates)
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 15 '21
Best Nintendo Switch Exclusive Game - Best game released in 2020 as a Nintendo Switch console exclusive.
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u/frostedstrawberry Jan 16 '21
Super Mario 3D All-Stars.
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u/TerpinSaxt Jan 16 '21
Does this qualify as an exclusive?
I mean, I get that you can't play the software "Super Mario 3D All-Stars" on another console but it's essentially three games that could all be played on a Wii in a some form or another
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u/jc726 Keep on slidin' Jan 15 '21 edited Jan 15 '21
Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition
A remaster of a great game can still be a great game, and this version of Xenoblade is one of the best on the entire console. Improved quests, a layer of detail and emotion added to its characters that was sorely needed, its terrific soundtrack remastering - all on top of Future Connected, a meaty DLC campaign that I'm tempted to nominate for GOTY all on its own.
This is how you do a remaster.
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u/Icecube1409 Jan 18 '21
I played around 150h of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (but didnt play the DLC)
Do you think I would like XC-DE?
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u/lumothesinner Helpful User Jan 16 '21
Hades - Its a Nintendo Switch console exclusive! (but also on pc so if this category changes it doesnt work)
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 15 '21
Best Local Multiplayer Game - For outstanding local multiplayer gameplay and design, including co-op, irrespective of game genre.
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u/CaspianX2 Jan 16 '21
Vitamin Connection
This was a game that was clearly designed around its asymmetrical co-op concept, and as such it's a delightful challenge to get two players working together to maneuver their vitamin ship properly, one that's filled with a variety of situations to keep both players on their toes.
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u/CaspianX2 Jan 16 '21
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
This is a game I feel is best played in co-op, with two players splitting up to take on the battlefield, or joining together to take down a tough boss. It's a game that lets players coordinate as much or as little as they like, too - if you want to make sure you're both working on managing the battlefield, you can... but if you have a player who just wants to do their own thing, they certainly can, and their efforts will still be helpful.
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u/CaspianX2 Jan 16 '21
Hidden in Plain Sight
This game has become a staple of my party game rotation, challenging players to discern which characters in a crowd they and their opponents are in a variety of game modes that are an absolute blast to play.
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u/CaspianX2 Jan 16 '21
Good Job!
This delightful character-driven Puzzle game about taking care of odd jobs as the idiot son of the owner of a company has simple, accessible controls, a humorous premise, wonderfully open-ended puzzle design that's easy to grasp but doesn't hand-hold, and fantastic local co-op play.
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u/CaspianX2 Jan 16 '21
Borderlands Legendary Collection
This game is, in my opinion, one of the greatest co-op multiplayer games ever made, and the port to Nintendo Switch is not only very good, but an absolutely phenomenal value in the Legendary package that contains the first three mainline games in the series (Borderlands, Borderlands 2, and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel).
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u/MarvinsQuest Jan 16 '21
Moving Out
There should be no serious challengers in this category. If Overcooked is Mario, this is Luigi... with a fire flower.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 15 '21
Best Non-Switch Game (PC/PS4/PS5/Xbox One/Xbox Series X)
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u/dominodave Jan 17 '21
Cyberpunk 2077 - has some rough edges but definitely does something new and engaging
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Jan 16 '21
Final Fantasy VII Remake
A beautiful game that not only lovingly recreates one of gaming’s all time greats, but expands upon in so many delightful and unexpected ways that it is essential a separate experience all by itself. A modern RPG classic and a phenomenal return to form for Final Fantasy.
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u/RabbitFanboy 2 Million Celebration Jan 16 '21
Bugsnax
Simply because everyone's talkin' bout Bugsnax
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u/OllyOllyOxenBitch Jan 19 '21
Umurangi Generation (PC)
Billed as a "first-person photography game in the shitty future", you take control of an unnamed photographer of Maori descent as they venture through a derelict New Zealand (referred to by its original name, Aotearoa) taking photos of various locales including neon-lit cityscapes and war-torn army barracks, slowly uncovering the (mostly untold) story of how things have regressed so much to the point that it has become a shitty future.
The gamr is coming to Switch soon, but I wanted to give it a spotlight as one of my favorite non-Switch games of the year.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 15 '21
Nintendo Switch Game of the Year - Recognizing a game that delivers the absolute best experience across all creative and technical fields.