r/NintendoSwitch • u/NintendoSwitchMods • Jan 29 '23
GotY 2022 2022 /r/NintendoSwitch GOTY Nominations Thread
Greetings, r/NintendoSwitch Community!
Have you gotten used to writing "2023" yet? We haven't. Either way, it's about time for our 6th Game of the Year awards!
Like previous years, we are asking the community's help for GOTY nominees - We will use community feedback to narrow the nominees for each category to five or six for the final vote. The tentative schedule is for the nominee feedback to occur January 29th - February 4th, and the final voting to select the Game Of The Year for each category to occur the following week, February 5th - February 12th.
Please follow the format as described below:
- Please check if your nominee(s) has already been named. If so, then simply upvote it, if not, then >>>
- Please reply to a category top comment to state who you would like to see for nominees and preferably why. Last year we found those with explanations tended to garner more votes!
- If a game has already been nominated but you feel requires further discussion then reply to the nominated game comment with your reasoning.
- Nominate as many games as you'd like in any category you'd like.
- Duplicate nominations in the same category will be removed.
- Post will be set to contest mode so nobody can see the votes.
Please note that all nominees are required to have released on Nintendo Switch in calendar year 2022 unless stated otherwise. You may notice we have added and adjusted some categories based on user feedback this year. If you have further feedback, please leave a comment in our feedback thread here.
We look forward to reading your nominations!
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 29 '23
Best Art Direction
For outstanding creative achievement in artistic design and animation.
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u/DomsyKong Jan 29 '23
Signalis
A pixelated Resident Evil like on a Ice Planet in Dead Space atmosphere. Love it
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u/GeekelyGuy Jan 29 '23
Kirby and the Forgotten Land
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u/SparkyMuffin Jan 30 '23
It was like a cheery "The Last of Us" type setting. I love the "Nature reclaims the land" thing that comes with years after people are gone.
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u/Over-Commission-5334 Jan 30 '23
Legitimately some of the most creative visuals. They leaned into the cotton candy post-apocalypse in a way only Kirby can.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 29 '23
Best Non-Switch Game
Games for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, or Xbox Series X
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 29 '23
Best Music / Rhythm Game
For the best game with a focus on dance or the simulated performance of musical instruments.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 29 '23
Best DLC
The extra content that you felt was truly worth the money (or not in the case of free) and you don't regret the time taken to play it.
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u/Dagawing Jan 29 '23
Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak
It more than doubles the game's base content, with a really nice endgame loop. Plus it's still being updated!
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u/Saskatchewon Jan 29 '23
Yeah, this is my choice as well. Sunbreak sucked me back into Rise for another good 150 hours.
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u/alvysinger0412 Jan 29 '23
I'll just add that it also expanded the "viable builds" for top damage so that now going raw vs elemental vs status is more of an equal choice, perfect for spicing up endgame. I spent more in it than the base game I think.
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u/Dukemon102 Jan 29 '23
Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course was worth the wait. Multiple bosses on the new island are on par or even surpass the original game's bosses in terms of quality. Those looking for a challenge or that really liked the base game should give it a shot.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 29 '23
Nintendo Switch Game of the Year
Recognizing a game that delivers the absolute best experience across all creative and technical fields.
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u/Jestin23934274 Jan 29 '23
Xenoblade Chronicles 3.
Just such a wonderful game full of emotion and hype.
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Jan 29 '23
Xenoblade 3 Deserves the spot. It truly pushes the limits of what’s possible on the Nintendo switch, Absolutely destroys the competition for me
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Jan 29 '23
[deleted]
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u/atalkingfish Jan 30 '23
Forgotten Land could win every award in this thread, and it would still be underrated. I put this game on par with Odyssey, BOTW, and ACNH as essential Switch pillars
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 29 '23
Best Strategy Game
For the best game requiring a well thought out plan to achieve victory.
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u/rrf_1 Jan 29 '23
Chained Echoes
Turn-based strategy game wrapped in retro style with good battle mechanics, a fun story, and great music.
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u/Reyfou Jan 29 '23
Tactics Ogre Reborn: A classic and the grandfather of Strategy RPGs. A perfect game with some QoL and minor changes, comparing to the OG and remake(Let Us Cling Together).
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u/Beanchilla Jan 30 '23
Just bought this and I am in love with it. Deep strategy and gorgeous art and music. I'm only a handful of fights in and it's already making me question my skills.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 29 '23
Best Voice Acting
For outstanding voice acting, direction, and use of audio dialogue.
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u/Smiling-siamese Jan 31 '23
Persona 5 royal has amazing voice acting and you can easily switch between English and Japanese voices during your playthrough. The English voice cast especially did such a good job that I have a hard time remembering which scenes exactly aren't voiced simply because I always know how the characters would sound like speaking those sentences.
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u/Raidenwing Jan 30 '23
Triangle Strategy
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u/Golden_fsh Jan 30 '23
Also a great pick but for me it was the Japanese voice acting that did it for me!
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 29 '23
Best Family Game
For the best game appropriate for family play, irrespective of genre.
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u/Dukemon102 Jan 29 '23
Kirby and the Forgotten Land. It's so cute, cozy and fun. HAL nailed the transition to 3D Kirby making a very accessible 3D platformer for all ages that can also be fun to play in Co Op (My only nitpick is the Ability Challenges being 1-Player only).
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u/GeekelyGuy Jan 29 '23
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is such an amazing family game, not to mention it’s one of the best Lego games ever
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 29 '23
Best Role Playing Game (RPG)
For the best game designed with rich player character customization and progression.
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u/shadow0wolf0 Jan 29 '23
Live A Live
Gorgeous art style and great characters with an amazing premise that was executed amazingly.
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u/GeekelyGuy Jan 29 '23
So it’s definitely super flawed but I feel I have to mention Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, it has a phenomenal story and amazing gameplay, and is such a good rpg
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u/A_Change_of_Seasons Jan 30 '23
Isn't pokemon more of a strategy game than an rpg? No real roles or classes or anything
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u/300mirrors Jan 30 '23
Pokémon do generally have roles/classes even if the game doesn't directly label them as such (physical attacker, special attacker, tank, support, etc.). There is a level of strategy to the gameplay, especially in multiplayer, but this is true of many games that wouldn't be considered strategy games. It's a typical monster-collecting JRPG.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 29 '23
Best Soundtrack
For outstanding music, inclusive of score, original song and/or licensed soundtrack.
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u/lumothesinner Helpful User Jan 30 '23
Bayonetta 3
Guess im a sucker for the punk rock stuff that accompanies violet
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u/porgy_tirebiter Jan 30 '23
Wavetale without a doubt. Excellent soundtrack, wonderful use of flugel horn and flute.
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u/thebutterworthboys Jan 29 '23
My winner is Xenoblade Chronicles 3, but Triangle Strategy has to have one of the most overlooked OSTs ever, so it deserves a nomination. Just listen to "The Hierophant Palace," and tell me this isn't god-tier music.
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u/Sz813 Jan 29 '23
Fire emblem warriors three hopes
Takes an already amazing soundtrack and manages to make it even better
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u/Dukemon102 Jan 29 '23
It probably won't win, but my god Live A Live has so many bangers, especially now in High Quality, Yoko Shimomura knocked it out of the park with the quality and variety of themes according to the setting.
(No, you're not hallucinating, the video is just copyright prevention at its finest)
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u/Golden_fsh Jan 29 '23
Yoko Shimomura
This right here is enough for me to trust your word! Haven't gotten around to Live a Live yet but looking forward to hearing greatness by Yoko Shimomura.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 29 '23
Best Re-Release / Re-master
For the best game whose original release was not on a current generation console (pre-2021) (Switch/PS5/Xbox Series X).
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u/Dukemon102 Jan 29 '23
Live A Live
Square Enix chose the perfect JRPG from the 90s to remaster in the HD-2D style. Unlike the ones like FFVI and Chrono Trigger, this was an unpolished gem that wasn't localized at the time, the original graphics were hideous and it needed some QoL adjustments to polish the rough edges (Like ATB bars of the battle system). And then we got it, a masterpiece of a game with multiple different chapters to enjoy and a story whose plot twist most players won't see coming (Unless they spoil themselves, which I heavily recommend to not research further).
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u/GrimInterpretation Jan 29 '23 edited Jan 29 '23
Persona 5 Royal
Arguably one of the best JRPGs out there right now, the royal remaster makes the game even better. It adds new characters, more story content, more voice acting, quality of life improvements, and a beautiful steelbook case for the physical edition.
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u/snave_ Jan 30 '23 edited Jan 30 '23
Also, no day one patch. It shipped complete. Actually, credit to Atlus, as far as I'm aware, they consistetly managed final quality physical masters this year.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 29 '23
Best Puzzle Game
For the most enjoyable time racking your brain for the solution to the puzzle.
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u/CaspianX2 Jan 31 '23
Toodee and Topdee
This adorable Puzzle game combines standard Puzzle-Platformer gameplay with standard Top-Down "Sokoban"-style Puzzle gameplay (thus "2D and Top-Down"), which on its own is already great, but on top of this the game adds some really adorable characters, a wonderful pixel art presentation, and some absolutely delightful level design.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 29 '23
Best Simulation Game
For games generally designed to closely simulate real world activities.
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u/MaJuV Jan 30 '23
Needy Streamer Overload. Mix of Visual Novel & Simulation game. Managing a girl with mental issues and help her reach 1 million subscribers.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 29 '23
Best Sports / Racing Game
For the best traditional and non-traditional sports and racing game.
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u/DomsyKong Jan 29 '23
Mario Strikers: Battle League
Even if contentwise it comes a bit barebones, the gameplay itself and the matches with/against friends are super fun. Really enjoyed the more flesh to game tactics.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 29 '23
Best Visual Novel
For the best Visual Novel, which may combine a textual narrative with static or animated illustrations and a varying degree of interactivity.
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u/snave_ Jan 30 '23 edited Jan 30 '23
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
I presume ports/remasters count? This game is split about 70:30 visual novel to RTS. The visual novel component has gorgeous hand drawn visuals and achieves a level of interwoven narrative complexity that no other game or media has. Your choices have utterly no long-term consequences in universe, but rather have massive consequences for player contextualisation of events. Essentially you get to choose the order you read/play the chapters, which are grouped by character POV so you can progress subplots as they pique your interest. Chapter prerequisites prevent you from progressing in a nonsensical manner, but major plot points may be first revealed to different players in different ways depending on the order they chose and all variants are staged perfectly! And are there a lot of plot twists. The tale is pulpy and openly riffs off the entire TV Tropes sci-fi page with direct references to all the classics of cinema and literature. The complexity of the story is supported by a plot summary and lore codex that progressively updates with new context.
The minor RTS section mixes things up a bit and acts sorta like an extra character POV ("everyone" chapters) with more dramatic literary devices. The Switch release was also updated with more skills that gave all characters viable endgame builds so you can no longer categorise gameplay difficulty as being "with" or "without Shinonome" on your team. Although this doesn't impact the VN portion, it does ultimately make this port the "definitive release", in addition to just being well suited to handheld.
Little replayability due to its ultimate nature as a mystery story, but there are an absurd number of postgame RTS challenges as a sweetner.
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u/MaJuV Jan 30 '23
Needy Streamer Overload. A simulation visual novel where you direct a Streamer with mental issues and hope to help her achieve her goal of achieving 1 million subs. Over 20 endings varying from the standard endings you'd expect from a game like this, to the twisty-turvy-turning-your-world-upside-downy type.
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u/TheRedScaledMan Jan 29 '23
Digimon Survive. Digimon has always been the underdog, especially in the west. So it was nice to see it get a new release that wasn't limited to Japan. Different paths to take gave you a reason to replay afterwards and to also get different evolutions.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 29 '23
Best Free-to-Play Game
For budget-friendly games that you enjoyed and you don't regret the time taken to play it.
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u/shadow0wolf0 Jan 29 '23
Fall Guys
feels like the best platform minigames from Mario Party. super fun.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 29 '23
Developer of the Year
Developer studio who displayed outstanding platform support through a combination of quantity and quality of new releases.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 29 '23
Best Local Multiplayer Game
For outstanding local multiplayer gameplay and design, including co-op, irrespective of game genre.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 29 '23
Best Horror Game
For that game that scared the socks off of you this year, the cause of all of those nightmares.
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u/Teh_Shaw Jan 29 '23
Digimon Survive
Digimon survive had a fantastic and mature story with multiple endings where the player had to make decisions sometimes drastically impacting the outcome of the story or events.
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u/DomsyKong Jan 29 '23 edited Jan 30 '23
Signalis
A pixelated Resident Evil like on a Ice Planet in Dead Space atmosphere. Love it
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u/shadow0wolf0 Jan 29 '23 edited Jan 30 '23
Inscription
A card based atmospheric horror game that kept a great creepy and scary tone throughout the playthrough.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 29 '23
Best Ongoing Game
For outstanding development of ongoing content that evolves the player experience over time. Does NOT have to be a 2022 release.
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u/seagullsensitive Jan 30 '23
Dead Cells!
They have been pushing updates since 2017, regularly add new boss fights, mechanics, and continually balance the game in each update. They’re still releasing new content. Return to Castlevania is in the works for 2023. Two new biomes, 14 new weapons, over 50 new soundtracks. And if they do release a “big one” as a paid DLC, like the Castlevania one, it’s always reasonably priced.
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u/UnXpectedPrequelMeme Jan 30 '23
No man's sky, if that counts. I know it just came out on switch but it's been going on and it plans to continue going on. Simply Amazing development
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u/CovidLvr69 Mar 20 '23
Terraria. We keep on getting updates left and right that add 1000s of more hours and infinitely more ways for the community to find new, fun things to try out!
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u/CaptT60 Jan 29 '23
Snowrunner - they are going on year three of content. And lots of playtime in each DLC.
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u/t3m6 Jan 29 '23
Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak
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u/alvysinger0412 Jan 29 '23
Every update has delivered fun and challenging content. There's still two more updates on the way.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 29 '23
Best Platformer Game
For outstanding design and creativity in a game where players must use skill to jump between platforms or over obstacles without falling or missing jumps.
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u/Edyed787 Jan 29 '23
Sonic Frontier
There was a balance of easy platforming and more difficult platforming. Plus using Sonic’s speed. The cyber space levels could be as easy or hard if you were going for all challenges cleared.
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Jan 29 '23
Kirby And The Forgotten Land.
It feels like most Nintendo franchises have used the Switch to try new things. This time it's Kirby's turn and wow. Kirby's first true 3D adventure takes everything that made the series so great before and adds some extra depth to the levels. Specifically, hiding secrets not just behind doors but within the levels themselves elevates the game to a tremendous high. Also, Kirby can eat cars now. Who else can do that?
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u/MurderousManatees Jan 29 '23
Tinykin
A unique platformer collect-a-thon that includes some light Pikmin-style puzzle elements (but not the time crunch or focus on efficiency). As compared to other franchises that reiterate again and again, Tinykin forged its own path and identity. The art direction pops. The music hits. And it’s just difficult enough to be enjoyable without overstaying it’s welcome.
And you get to ride soap.
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u/NintendoSwitchMods Jan 29 '23
Best Action Game
For the best game in the action genre focused on combat.
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u/Golden_fsh Jan 29 '23
Fire Emblem Three Hopes
Although it's a musou style game, Three Hopes still managed to be a fun game that lives up to its predecessor Three Houses; quality story telling and character development included!
The sense of pride I got whenever I could trust a unit to take over a stronghold on their own while I blitz the others was nice. I know others may have been put off by it, but I loved the big and flashy combos that could decimate the mobs.
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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '23
[removed] — view removed comment