2000 - Pokémon Stadium 2
2001 - Super Smash Bros. Melee
2002 - Metroid Prime
2003 - Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire
2004 - Half-Life 2
2005 - Kingdom Hearts 2
2006 - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
2007 - Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
2008 - Super Smash Bros. Brawl
2009 - New Super Mario Bros. Wii
2010 - Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
2011 - Dark Souls
2012 - Resident Evil: Revelations
2013 - Final Fantasy XIV
2014 - Super Smash Bros. For Wii U
2015 - Xenoblade Chronicles X
2016 - Dark Souls 3
2017 - Nier: Automata
2018 - Red Dead Redemption 2
2019 - Resident Evil 2
2020 - Animal Crossing: New Horizons
2021 - Metroid Dread
2022 - Elden Ring
2023 - The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
2024 - The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
2025 - Metroid Prime 4

2015: Bloodborne
2016: Dark Souls III
2017: The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
2018: The Messenger
2019: Resident Evil 2
2020: Yakuza: Like A Dragon
2021: Ender Lilies: Quietus Of The Knights
2022: Elden Ring
2023: The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom
2024: Balatro

^ Elden Ring is such an absolute beast.

Ok, here is a list of my highest ranked games for each year I have been alive

My list is from ongoing series from couple of years ago that Liquid Laser ran (it went from 1980 to 2019). It contains personal favourites and what I think was GOTY (they mostly don't match each other).

I only had 2020 entry ready, so that's where it stops.

GOTY
1971 The Oregon Trail
1972 Pong
1973 Space Race
1974 Maze War
1975 Dungeon
1976 Breakout
1977 Combat
1978 Space Invaders
1979 Asteroids
1980 Pac-Man
1981 Donkey Kong
1982 Ms. Pac-Man
1983 Ultima III: Exodus
1984 Tetris
1985 Super Mario Bros.
1986 Legend of Zelda
1987 Phantasy Star
1988 Super Mario Bros 3
1989 Castlevania III
1990 Super Mario World
1991 Street Fighter 2
1992 Sonic 2
1993 Doom
1994 Super Metroid
1995 Chrono Trigger
1996 Pokemon Red, Green & Blue
1997 Goldeneye 007
1998 Zelda: Ocarina of Time
1999 Shenmue
2000 Final Fantasy IX
2001 Halo: Combat Evolved
2002 GTA: Vice City
2003 Star Wars: KotoR
2004 World of Warcraft
2005 Resident Evil 4
2006 Gears of War
2007 Super Mario Galaxy
2008 Fallout 3
2009 Batman: Arkham Asylum
2010 Mass Effect 2
2011 Minecraft
2012 Persona 4 Golden
2013 Last of Us
2014 Mario Kart 8
2015 Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
2016 Dark Souls 3
2017 Zelda: Breath of the Wild
2018 God of War
2019 Resident Evil 2 Remake
2020 Animal Crossing: New Horizons
2021 Metroid Dread
2022 Elden Ring
2023 Baldurs Gate 3
2024 Astro Bot

• 2005 - God of War
• 2006 - Gears of War / The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
• 2007 - Bioshock / God of War 2
• 2008 - Gears of War 2 / LittleBigPlanet
• 2009 - Uncharted 2
• 2010 - Mass Effect 2 / God of War 3
• 2011 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 
• 2012 - Mass Effect 3
• 2013 - The Last of Us
• 2014 - None
• 2015 - Bloodborne (haven't played The Witchet 3)
• 2016 - Unhcarted 4 and Dark Souls 3
• 2017 - Horizon Zero Dawn
• 2018 - God of War 
• 2019 - Control
• 2020 - Ghost of Tsushima / The Last of Us Part II
• 2021 - It Takes Two / Psychonauts 2
• 2022 - God of War Ragnarok
• 2023 - Alan Wake 2 (haven't played Baldur's Gate 3)
• 2024 - None
• 2025 - Split Fiction

A friend of mine and me have a tradition since 2019 to declare our personal GOTY, for previous years I would have to try and retrospectively reconstruct my GOTY, and I don't have time and nerves for that:

2019: Gears of War 5
2020: Doom Eternal
2021: Death's Door
2022: Tiny Tina's Wonderlands
2023: Resident Evil 4 Remake
2024: Astrobot

Nice one. You can see The Witcher 3 and Baldurs Gate 3 would be your GOTY, same for me, I know Baldurs Gate 3 would be my 2023 pick but I refuse to play it until I know I am in the mindset and mental health and have the two or three month period that I'll need to enjoybit to it's fullest without being broken up, I may be waiting a while but one day I'll play this game which will more than likely sit at the top of my all time list.