Did not say a game needs all of them, 1 preferably  more they definitely do.

About 1, you talking an almost here, which also means did not win. The one that won, though? Had more or less all of the points I listed, BotW was not technically impressive in graphics but it was certainly technically impressive in physics in 2017.

Of course new games won't fall into point 5, lol.

About 2 and 6, indies do not meet 6, which makes it harder for them, doesn't it? Also, Balatro and Wukong are not artistically impressive, Metaphor is, for example. And Metaphor is the only one of those 3 with a, albeit small, chance of winning.

The list may be arbitrary, it's just a personal perception I have that most GOTYs follow to feel like GOTYs, Wukong for example fails most of those and definitely doesn't feel like a GOTY, which doesn't mean it's not a good/fun game, but that I'm adamant it has virtually no chance of winning whatsoever.

Over exaggerating there a bit and JRPGs fell out of favor in the 7th gen but things like Xenoblade and Dark Souls helped bring it back. There is no Final Fantasy at all without Wizardry. RPGs were successful on 16-Bit machines mind you just FF7 helped further expand the popularity in the west but Secret of Mana in Japan was more popular as is DQ. FF7 did not inspire any RPGs to copy it or create any new mechanics to be emulated and create an entire genre. Wizardry did. No FF. No DQ. No YS. No falcom. No Enix. No Square. No Legend of Dragoon. Wizardry wasn't the first either. Ultima was.

(1.) “Almost” meaning had BG3 not released last year, TotK would have won. Hence, I’ll continue to view my remark as a valid critique to your list.

(6.) The reason indies almost never win GotY has anything to do with originality. Undertale 2 (aka Deltarune) would have far less of a chance than Undertale 1, unless they truly revolutionized the game. The reason indies can’t win has solely to do with the fact that these devs are typically operating under a less-than-couple-million dollar budget. How could they possibly compete with studios which pour hundreds of millions into their games? Who have entire studios of incredibly renown game designers working at their peak?

In any case, you concede this is mostly “vibes based analysis”, to which I’ll respect your list as is. We don’t all have to be in agreement, and maybe you’re right…as much as I may think otherwise lol. My analysis typically boils down to (1.) Are there any games which received an extreme level of praise? Like Elden Ring, Astro, or GoW? (2.) If so, how many? (3.) What is the community saying between these top-tier titles?

I know the discussion itself is silly to begin with, but putting LoD there just to try to make fun is pretty much ridiculous.

Xenoblade Chronicles 5 games and 2 remasters, combined together, still have yet to outsell FF7 on the PS1 alone. Xenoblade helped bring the genre back, but FF7 is not the biggest name in RPG story? lol, just come on brother.

You are mentioning Japan, and FF7 was the game to make the whole world want to get into RPGs.

After FF7 the genre went from being another genre to the prime genre in the industry, just because of FF7 alone. Presentation in RPGs changed drastically and a LOT of games came trying to be the next FF7.

You are talking about making ground, I'm talking about becoming the biggest game there was.

@BraLoD updated my prev response!

Stellar blade was robbed, it's better than Erd Tree and it's actually a full game. The damn thing has rail riding like rachet & Clank, for no other reason than it just looks cool. This is better than Bayonetta, better than DMC and better than old school GoW for 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.

It doesn't exist without it https://www.timeextension.com/features/the-making-of-wizardry-the-landmark-rpg-that-inspired-dragon-quest-and-final-fantasy

You used the words most impactful which is wrong.

So many games including Dark Souls and arguably the entire Soulslike genre wouldn't have existed as we know them without ICO (a highly influential PS2 title that couldn't sell a single million copies). Miyazaki (responsible for lifting FromSoftware to godhood) may have not even entered the industry without ICO. I don't know if this makes it more impactful than Dark Souls though, they're just influential in different ways. Tens of thousands of games have some influence one way or another on tens of thousands. Gaming is the accumulation of countless influences. Zelda and Team ICO games literally influenced each other according to Eiji Aonuma.

I think it's fair to consider FF7 the most impactful RPG as long as you don't pass it as a fact, because it's not an apples to apples comparison. It's not something that can easily be measured.

FF7 is important game for many reasons, but not the most important RPG in (video) gaming - that title goes to Ultima (and to some extent Wizardry, but its influence is more important for JRPGs).