GOTY Picks Blog has declared Zelda: Breath of the Wild "The Big Winner of 2017"

[Phediuk]

https://gotypicks.blogspot.com/

GOTY Picks Blog is a site that tallies all of the GOTY awards from every media outlet. Almost all major awards are in, so the GOTY race is just about over and the site evidently feels it can now crown a winner. The final results for 2017 are as follows, in order of number of outlets who named each game as their GOTY:

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - 179
Horizon Zero Dawn - 48
Super Mario Odyssey - 25
NieR: Automata - 12
Persona 5 - 10
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds - 9
Assassin's Creed Origins - 6
Divinity: Original Sin II - 6
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard - 4
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus - 4
Prey - 3
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice - 2
Night in the Woods - 1
Thimbleweed Park - 1
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy - 1


Here are some stats for how Zelda: Breath of the Wild compares to previous "Big Winners". The numbers below are simply how many GotY awards the leading game got out of the total number awarded that year, followed by the equivalent percentage, and then by the number of unique games named as GotY by at least one outlet:

Star Wars KOTOR: 18/39, 46.15%, field of 11
Half-Life 2: 21/55, 38.18%, field of 11
Resident Evil 4: 35/61, 57.38%, field of 13
Oblivion: 40/113, 35.40%, field of 11
Bioshock: 47/158, 29.75%, field of 15
Fallout 3: 69/204, 33.82%, field of 16
Uncharted 2: 111/213, 52.11%, field of 12
Red Dead Redemption: 111/291, 38.14%, field of 22
Skyrim: 227/403, 56.33%, field of 18
The Walking Dead: 75/385, 19.48%, field of 24
The Last of Us: 249/524, 47.52%, field of 25
Dragon Age Inquisition: 134/410, 32.68%, field of 46
The Witcher 3: 257/439, 58.54%, field of 26
Uncharted 4, 165/410, 40.24%, field of 26
Zelda: Breath of the Wild, 179/311, 57.55%, field of 15

In absolute numbers, Zelda is #4 in GOTY awards behind The Witcher 3, The Last of Us, and Skyrim; in terms of percentage, it's #2 behind The Witcher 3.

Well, that's a wrap for 2017. Tune in again in late November, when the 2018 GOTY race will start up.

 

[Ikon]

Huh, how come total awards dropped by 99 from 2016 to 2017?

Oh yeah, and good on BotW, that game seems to be massively loved by most people who've played it.

 

[SinCityAssassin]

No shit.

 

[Kuro]

Huh, how come total awards dropped by 99 from 2016 to 2017?

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Game media outlets are dying as youtube channels and streamers replace them.

 

[Zippo]

Not my choice, but Zelda is still a wonderful experience.

 

[Francesco]

Surprises:
Horizon in second place. I found it a really shallow rpg under certain aspects. AC Origins was no masterpiece but had more depth than that.
Have to pick up Divinity when/if it comes out for ps4. Can't wait for some coop. Happy for Night in the Woods and Thimbleweed Park, gotta finish em.

 

[Ikon]

Game media outlets are dying as youtube channels and streamers replace them.

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I guess, but I had no idea it was at this rapid a pace.

 

[Deleted member 35598]

With such competition, Breath of the Wild awards are even more impressive.

 

[TheWordyGuy]

It was the title I kept seeing over and over - so I'm not surprised. Oddly, I am a little surprised to see Horizon Zero Dawn up there in 2nd - it 'seemed' to be getting no love, but I guess that was just my perception.

 

[CaviarMeths]

Zelda: 134 critic awards, 45 reader
Horizon: 24 critic awards, 24 reader
Mario: 23 critic awards, 2 reader
Nier: 10 critic awards, 2 reader
Persona: 8 critic awards, 2 reader

Why are Horizon's reader awards so disproportionately high?

Edit: this came off as more warriory than I intended. Didn't mean to start a thing. 4/5 of these games made my GOTY list (only Mario didn't, because I didn't play it). Sorry!

 

[Stealthy Cockatrice]

Dragon Age Inquisition while I enjoyed it, seeing it in top of all GOTY's is still concerning. Congrats to Zelda and too bad for the real goty Divinity. Doubt any game will ever surpass Witcher 3 though. That game was a gift of the gods.

 

[pulga]

Really weird how the number of awards given out dropped so much. Anyway, the GOAT deserves every single one it got.

Zelda: 134 critic awards, 45 reader
Horizon: 24 critic awards, 24 reader
Mario: 23 critic awards, 2 reader
Nier: 10 critic awards, 2 reader
Persona: 8 critic awards, 2 reader

Why are Horizon's reader awards so disproportionately high?

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I think you know the answer to that.

 

[Crayolan]

BotW winning easily was obvious from well before GOTY season even began.

The real surprise is second place, didn't expect Horizon to outdo Mario, and by almost double.

 

[Cudpug]

Amazing result! I wonder if Nintendo is surprised at the positive reaction. It was a big risk on their part shaking up the series so much.

All the other games on the list are also great. What a time to be gaming.

 

[BrickArts295]

Here are the genre award winners:

Best Shooter: Wolfenstein 2
Best RPG: Persona 5
Best Action/Adventure: BOTW
Best Sports: FIFA 18
Best Graphics: Horizon
Best Story: Nier Automata

 

[black070]

That's a good Top 5, Persona 5 should have been higher though.

 

[Gravity Insanity]

I seriously thought it was going to pass TLOU and the Witcher 3 in GOTY awards.

 

[Lotus]

Best Story: Nier Automata

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As it should be.

It was the title I kept seeing over and over - so I'm not surprised. Oddly, I am a little surprised to see Horizon Zero Dawn up there in 2nd - it 'seemed' to be getting no love, but I guess that was just my perception.

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Which is why I never got the whole "Horizon Zero Awards" meme, or why people were so damn salty that stuff like Giant Bomb or w/e happened to not have cared for Horizon.

 

[Aters]

Zelda: 134 critic awards, 45 reader
Horizon: 24 critic awards, 24 reader
Mario: 23 critic awards, 2 reader
Nier: 10 critic awards, 2 reader
Persona: 8 critic awards, 2 reader

Why are Horizon's reader awards so disproportionately high?

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Just like UC4 from last year.

Personally I just throw away all the reader awards.

 

[John Bender]

Zelda: 134 critic awards, 45 reader
Horizon: 24 critic awards, 24 reader
Mario: 23 critic awards, 2 reader
Nier: 10 critic awards, 2 reader
Persona: 8 critic awards, 2 reader

Why are Horizon's reader awards so disproportionately high?

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Because it's an amazing game =)

It was the title I kept seeing over and over - so I'm not surprised. Oddly, I am a little surprised to see Horizon Zero Dawn up there in 2nd - it 'seemed' to be getting no love, but I guess that was just my perception.

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Horizon Zero Dawn got flooded with nominations. Actually, it's no suprise at all. It got a lot of love.

 

[texhnolyze]

I seriously thought it was going to pass TLOU and the Witcher 3 in GOTY awards.

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Yeah, but it's very close to The Witcher 3 as the runner up. Maybe they can try again in a less-packed year with BOTW 2 later.

 

[lordlad]

i'm shocked! /S

 

[BrickArts295]

I seriously thought it was going to pass TLOU and the Witcher 3 in GOTY awards.

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Well it technically did pass TLOU and is just 1% behind Witcher 3. On top of that Nintendo has 2 games in the top 5 and both of them were launch titles. Honestly they can't ask for a better outcome than this, 2017 was their year.

 

[Slammin_Hammon]

Not my GOTY but it's no surprise and it's well deserved.

What is surprising however is the amount of outlets that chose Horizon as GOTY. I don't think Horizon should even crack top 5.

 

[BrickArts295]

I'm very pleased to see Persona 5 with 10 GOTYs and bit shocked to see it higher than PUBG. I swear that game was get some GOTYs with hype surrounding it.

 

[Get_crazy]

To the surprise of no one.

Also, glad Horizon is number 2, it's well deserved and I enjoyed it way more than Mario.

 

[Nav]

Horizon feels kinda contrarian.

 

[daniel77733]

Happy to see Horizon second at least and I wonder if The Witcher 3 will ever be surpassed in most goty awards.

 

[Paradox House]

Zelda: 134 critic awards, 45 reader
Horizon: 24 critic awards, 24 reader
Mario: 23 critic awards, 2 reader
Nier: 10 critic awards, 2 reader
Persona: 8 critic awards, 2 reader

Why are Horizon's reader awards so disproportionately high?

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Reviewers will support cross platform games whilst users might only own one system.

 

[silva1991]

I seriously thought it was going to pass TLOU and the Witcher 3 in GOTY awards.

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I'm glad it wasn't even close. BOTW is great, but it's no Witcher 3 or TLOU. I wonder what game will break their records?

 

[CaviarMeths]

Happy to see Horizon second at least and I wonder if The Witcher 3 will ever be surpassed in most goty awards.

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It won't. A few years from now, even if one game gets 100% of the awards, it may not match Witcher 3. There's simply far fewer awards than there used to be.

 

[FlintSpace]

Wow. Can we just appreciate how Horizon, a new IP with a female protagonist with no pew pew, managed to grab 48 GOTY more than Mario Odyssey juggernaut. Seriously I am so proud of this game.

 

[black070]

Lol, even with Zelda winning the Horizon hate still continues.

Its a critically acclaimed game, get over it already.

 

[Jaxar]

I haven't played it but from the sounds of it, the praise is much deserved.

 

[B.O.O.M.]

Glad to see some love for Horizon. So hyped for the eventual sequel.

To the people 'concerned' or 'surprised' about the award number Horizon got, some people apparently really liked it. Shocking news I know.

 

[daniel77733]

It won't. A few years from now, even if one game gets 100% of the awards, it may not match Witcher 3. There's simply far fewer awards than there used to be.

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Yeah, probably not which is fine by me as it's my best game this generation and Horizon is my second best. Will be interesting to see if CDPR comes close though with Cyberpunk 2077 because they will definitely try their best to surpass Witcher 3.

 

[Deleted member 11262]

Lol, even with Zelda winning the Horizon hate still continues.

Its a critically acclaimed game, get over it already.

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LMAO seriously.
It's just pathetic how so many feel entitled to perpetually shit on a title even when their favorite game got awarded a lot more.

 

[Deleted member 24550]

I'm glad it wasn't even close. BOTW is great, but it's no Witcher 3 or TLOU. I wonder what game will break their records?

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True, it's much much better.

 

[Deleted member 20297]

Lol, even with Zelda winning the Horizon hate still continues.

Its a critically acclaimed game, get over it already.

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FFS, which hate?!

 

[His Majesty]

The Witcher 3 remains king

 

[wig]

Wow. Can we just appreciate how Horizon, a new IP with a female protagonist with no pew pew, managed to grab 48 GOTY more than Mario Odyssey juggernaut. Seriously I am so proud of this game.

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Yeah, I was surprised to see that Horizon got more GOTY awards than Mario. Congrats to Guerrilla. It's a great game.

 

[TheFireman]

It's weird that Odyssey is the only game in the top 5 that was released that was released in the back half of the year. It feels like the Holiday season, while stacked, is starting to carry the big winners less and less. Hell, this year has MHW looking to be a GOTY contender already, and Dragonball Fighter Z likely taking the best fighting game of the year unless something unexpected gets announced.

 

[Deleted member 11262]

FFS, which hate?!

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*User enters thread*
*looks up list in OP*

"Hey, this Horizon Zero Dawn game has a bit too many awards, doesn't it? Not that I care and all, but why is that, I wonder?"

Hmm...

 

[Yoshimitsu126]

Took nearly 20 years for OoT to be dethroned but was worth it.

 

[Phediuk]

It's weird that Odyssey is the only game in the top 5 that was released that was released in the back half of the year. It feels like the Holiday season, while stacked, is starting to carry the big winners less and less. Hell, this year has MHW looking to be a GOTY contender already, and Dragonball Fighter Z likely taking the best fighting game of the year unless something unexpected gets announced.

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It's RDR2's year to lose imo.

 

[Deleted member 17491]

*User enters thread*
*looks up list in OP*

"Hey, this Horizon Zero Dawn game has a bit too many awards, doesn't it? Not that I care and all, but why is that, I wonder?"

Hmm...

Click to shrink...

It's the only game in the top 5 with such an even ratio between critics and readers. Doesn't it make sense to wonder why that is? Not everything is "hate".

 

[SirNinja]

Horizon Zero Dawn - 48
Super Mario Odyssey - 25

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Okay, that's impressive. Almost double the GotY awards at the latest and greatest Mario? Major congrats to Guerrilla.

 

[black070]

It's the only game in the top 5 with such an even ratio between critics and readers. Doesn't it make sense to wonder why that is? Not everything is "hate".

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Okay, ignoring reader reviews:

Zelda: 134 critic awards
Horizon: 24 critic awards
Mario: 23 critic awards
Nier: 10 critic awards
Persona: 8 critic awards

 

[Deleted member 11262]

It's the only game in the top 5 with such an even ratio between critics and readers. Doesn't it make sense to wonder why that is? Not everything is "hate".

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Everyone knows the answer to that. It's concern trolling at best about a game these people obviously dislike.

And they love to rekindle this dislike as much as possible in as many threads as possible. That's an obsession.

 

[Edgar]

Surprised BotW didn't overthrow Witcher 3 considering its rated higher and it it revolutionized the genre (I have been told)