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Kyuu on 19 November 2024
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BraLoD said:
Kyuu said:

Metaphor isn't beating Rebirth, but it's guaranteed to "steal" a bunch of votes because the two games appeal to similar demographics. As long as publications pick their actual favorite of the two rather than politically ignore Metaphor for the sake of "the other great JRPG winning", Rebirth will lose a number of votes. Metaphor is definitely favored over Rebirth by a good number of people. Will it be enough to beat Rebirth? Probably not, but it could do some damage and indirectly help AstroBot.

I mostly agree on Wukong, Balatro, and Shadow of the Erdtree.

Reviews and scores are a little bit different. You can tell that AstroBot overall was better received than Rebirth, and that's not just because it score a couple of points higher on Metacritic and Opencritic. God of War was arguably better received than RDR2 even though it was 3 points behind. RDR2 got criticisms unexpressed by the inflated aggregated scores. Rebirth received a LOT of community complaints about padding, minigames, story/ending, and picture quality. AstroBot's complaints were minor in comparison. AstroBot is also significant in that it is Sony's first 3D Mario-tier platformer since... ever?... So some publications may pick it as a way to push Sony to that direction; to make more platformers and expand the remnants of Japan studio.

No JRPG ever won a major GOTY award. Platformers won a number of times. It Takes Two, which is often viewed as a platformer, is GOTY 2021.

I think it can go either way, but cheer with me for Rebirth, that's an order.

I agree that having 3 RPGs there will canibalize the audience and favor Astro Bot, but I still believe that is nowhere near enough for it to beat Rebirth.

It Takes Two would not come near winning most years, 2021 was arguably the weakest year in many, many years, the biggest game there was RE8 which would also not make the top 3 this year.

Elden Ring is a JRPG, too, and would you look at that 

FF7 being a JRPG and winning the GOTY there too would not surprise me in the slightest, it's FF7 afterall, a open world FF7 no less, it was made to win GOTY awards.

Usually the GOTY needs to fill at least 1, or more of this points to be elected:

1. Be technically impressive

2. Be artistically impressive

3. Be massive/have content to last long

4. Have a strong narrative/story

5. Have brand/franchise recognition

6. Studio/company have excellent track record

FF7 Rebirth fits all of those, all of them.

Astro Bot has 2, 6 because of Sony, and 1, but many would dimish it there because it's not a realistic focused game.

Metaphor have 2, 3, 4 and 6 because of Atlus.

Obviously have more points doesn't automatically make a game the winner, it's not math, as a game can be so, so good at only something as that matter more than others being good in more ways, but Rebirth really looks like a lock to me.

FromSoftware doesn't make JRPG's. "Japanese" RPG's are Japanese in style, not make. Souls games go outside the range of what makes a JRPG. Yes, they're 100% "Japanese made RPG's" and a glorious Japan gaming achievement, but I'm talking style/genre, not place of origin. Sure, the term "JRPG" remains quite broad and encompasses a large variety of gameplay systems and art styles, but it's generally agreed on that FromSoftware's games go outside this range. I would argue BotW and TotK are closer to being JRPG than FromSoftware's stuff, certainly more "J". 

Granted genres overlap and are becoming more and more difficult to define, RPG's especially.

It Take Two had weaker competition, but it was also a weaker game so it evens out... kind of.

AstroBot is more technically impressive than Rebirth as far as I'm concerned (physics and interactivity are off the chart!). Scope, content, IP recognition, and narrative obviously go to Rebirth. But AstroBot has its own set of advantages that may cancel out whatever Rebirth has going for it. SquareEnix stopped being synonymous with "quality" a long time ago, and are generally more associated with disappointments. They couldn't quite bounce back like Capcom did (nicknamed "Crapcom" in the 7th gen).

Overwatch beat Uncharted 4 even though the latter was higher rated and ticked more of these boxes. I do respect that you're not completely denying AstroBot's chances, so I guess there's not much left to discuss. May the gods realize your prediction because I think Square and Final Fantasy deserve it this time.