Yeah, i'm the same like you. I'm just stirring a pot a little bit this thread to bring up the drama too and prove a point. I really don't read or see any review for any game because i don't give a shit about them. I just see gameplay and trailers and make my decission.

And yes, this year is going to be really spread in regards of GOTY, no clear winner. But if you ask me, Death Strading is going to be top 3 and has better chances to win it all than games like Astral Chain, Fire Emblem or Luigi's Mansion 3 or even Pokemon Sword and Shield. GOTY's are usually given to "adult games". I don't know if it's fair or not but it is what usually is in this cases. It has been a really weird 2019 though, lots of good games but barely any clear 10/10 game like years before, so i really don't know what to expect right now.

Games like Resident Evil 2, Sekiro Shadows die Twice, Death Stranding, Outer Worlds, Jedi Fallen Order, Apex Legends and maybe the usual indie game are going to be the main candidates in my opinion.

My prediction was pretty close (85). Reading the reviews, I'm gonna do a hard pass on this one since gameplay seems the weak point of the game and that's what I value the most.

Seems like I will be buying when it goes on discount next year. -85 metacritic usually means buy (but not right out buy out of the gates) for me. However I have read like 5 reviews were the gameplay is heavily criticized.

I personally loathed Sekiro, but I expect it to win most of the GotY awards.  And depending on how Pokemon turns out, I could see that grabbing some.

From all trailers and footage shown before, it's clear not a game for everyone, it can be expected, I'll wait until one week later to get my hands on the game then we'll see, but still I got the feeling similar to the case of Days Gone, a lot of reviewers didn't recommend it, which then turned out to be a very impressive experience for me personally.

You can’t mandate a standard for something based entirely on opinion. There’s nothing that says an indie game or cheaper game should be reviewed differently. There’s nothing that says an exclusive should be reviewed differently than a multi platform. Some outlets do that, some dont. 

When you say a certain score should only be reserved for certain qualifications you’re speaking purely from personal opinion and bias. But those are what makes criticism interesting. People reviewing are also applying their own opinions and bias. You seem to want a vanilla, standardized form of reviewing and that sounds incredibly boring to me.

Also, I disagree that a big budget AAA title can’t be scored a 3.5 because it’s not an indie title or it isn’t buggy. The Order 1886 is a great looking, fully functional and bug free title. I wouldn’t bat an eye at a 3.5 score for it because the things it tries to do well, it fails miserably. I haven’t read the 3.5 DS score and probably never will, but if the reviewer found major flaws with key elements then why can’t it be a 3.5?

Also maybe if you feel this strongly about scores, don’t rely on a review aggregator? Or don’t even look at them. Find a stable of reviewers who share your opinions and bias and score standards and only read their reviews.

I see a lot about this game being a walking simulatior... that’s not a good thing for me

Same reason why i never read Edge articles these days.

I'll wait for Sterlings review, I tend to agree with most of his reviews so far.