The Game Awards 2017 winners

Update: Nintendo's Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild won GotY in the recently concluded The Game Awards 2017. Kudos Nintendo and Zelda fans!

Other winners:

Best Music/Score- Nier: Automata

Best Game Direction- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Best Art Direction- Cuphead

Best Narrative- What Remains of Edith Finch

Best Action Game- Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus

Best Role-Playing Game- Persona 5

Most Anticipated Game- The Last of Us 2

Best Strategy Game- Mario+Rabbids Kingdom Battle

Best Family Game- Super Mario Odyssey

Best Esports Team- Cloud 9

Best Debut Indie Game- Cuphead

Best On-Going Game- Overwatch

Best Esports Player- Lee Sang-Hyeook a.k.a "Faker"

Best Student Game- Level Squared

Games for Impact - Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

Best Audio Design- Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

Best Mobile Game- Monument Valley 2

Best Handheld Game- Metroid Prime: Samus Returns

Best VR/AR Game- Resident Evil 7

Best Action/Adventure Game- Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Best Fighting Game: Injustice 2

Best Sports/Racing Game- Forza Motorsport 7

Trending Gamer- Guy Beahm

Best Esports Game- Overwatch

Best Chinese Game- jx3 HD

Sadly, HZD didn't even win one award. Still, there are numerous gaming award bodies that are still about to slate before the year ends. So I guess, HZD will have its place there to shine.

Thats cool and all but whats up with Death Stranding and Soul Calibur 6?

@soul_starter: Annually, the Game Awards includes a world premiere category as an outlet to further introduce the upcoming games next year. Two of them are presented awhile ago which is a brand new Death Stranding trailer to expand further ideas regarding DS's plot. Guess what, it is somewhat like an alien invasion-ish story. Perhaps, I couldn't conclude totally and Harada-san presented the next sequel of Soul Calibur which included footages of fighting scenes (Sophitia vs Mitsurugi). He even asked the audience if they are still amp-up after Tekken 7 and it seems the audiences grippingly craved more that served as a go-signal for Harada-san to unveil the Soul Calibur 6 trailer.

Too bad these awards mean nothing...

Best Fighting Game: Injustice 2.

That's a sign of the extremely low quality of fighting games this year, to date. Injustice 2, while not a bad game, is an empty shell compared to MKX. The combo mechanics are much shallower. Most of the recurring fighters have the exact same move set.

Overall, the game does not feel like a step forward in term of raw brawling mechanics. It feels like Injustice 1.5.

MKX took everything MK9 did and put a new spin on it. The bread and butter fighters such as Scorpion and Sub-Zero have a completely new move set and feel completely different from earlier iterations in the series.

The loot system, while not terrible, feels tacked on and the way the gears are handled, it is evident they have taken a few skins and hacked em up in pieces for mix and match. It does not feel fair that they put that up-and-center as one of their best new feature for the game.

While it is still a fun fighter, I find it very sad that, considering all the titles that came out this year, Injustice 2 ends up being the ''cream of the crop'', so to speak.

2017 was just not a good year for fighting games in general.

How so?

Now I'm starting to think that the Game Awards are rigged. Like how Blizzard paid for Overwatch to be Game of the Year last year.

@lucidique: Agree. WB games' last remarkable in-depth game was MKX. I was hooked on that game so much. For Tekken 7, it was actually a nice fighter but definitely not a superior sequel than Tekken 5 and 6. I guess it's due to lack of content and missable characters that majority of arcade players used like Lei, Julia, and Anna. Harada-san only took the survey and its results through small respondents from the social media which was not a definite method/source to disregard these characters.

The combo mechanics are much shallower. Most of the recurring fighters have the exact same move set.

Totally agree on that. I felt that the movement in terms of combat is underwhelming like you're playing a rushed-fighting game. Unlike MKX, it was a great innovation to include those contents while sticking to that fun gameplay back in MK9 with a twist which was not totally disappointing with those x-rays thingy.

But still looking forward to Tekken 8 and Soul Calibur 6. Plus Tekken X Street Fighter will be announced soon using BAMCO Tekken's engine as their main CGI/animation.

The nominees are poorly chosen, which leads to undermining the honors lauded to the winner. E.g., RE7's Best Game Direction (backtracking in the direction of its own series and doing something everybody else is doing without introducing any actual innovations to the genre, topped with a mediocre execution, doesn't really scream best game direction to me), Destiny 2's Best Ongoing Game (which almost sounded like a bad joke to me, considering that the game is way too recent for the category, plus it's a shameless cash grab, plus+ there's all the controversy that's been surrounding it with its mishandling of microtransactions, experience throttling, and the content exclusion mechanics introduced with the launch of its DLC), arguably the lack of a GOTY nomination for the likes of D:OS2, and even arguably PUBGs' GOTY (which would probably generate a thread on its own so I'll just leave it at that).

The winners are sometimes poorly chosen, which leads to sometimes undermining the award itself. E.g., Overwatch's victory over Warframe in the Best Ongoing Game category which is described as being "[a]warded to a game for outstanding development of ongoing content that evolves the player experience over time." The category is not meant to award the best game, mind you, it's meant to award the game that best evolves over time. Overwatch doesn't really evolve, it mostly adds. And what it adds requires mostly efforts regarding balancing issues only, from the developers (the rest is skins). If you look at the history of the evolution of Warframe, you might see the discrepancy between the two. There's also the first point I made to be considered here. If the nominees are poorly chosen, then how can the choice of a winner be appropriate?

Some categories are poorly chosen? Most Hyped Anticipated Game? Best Chinese Game????

Also, the whole event is tainted by a sponsorship galore that gives it a rather quaint, sellout aura. Which was reinforced by the presence of the Battlefront II marketing video.

Public voting should not be a part of the decision process for most categories. Not everybody is fit to "judge" or "appreciate" the quality of the games regarding each category. People get hyped, that's the whole point of marketing: to manipulate people into thinking the way they want them to. Also, a ten-year-old's vote would probably not be that much relevant when judging, let's say, Games for Impact.

Lastly, every year, every game is a GOTY. You go into the store and you can find ten GOTY editions easily. They've been awarded GOTY by different awards, sure, but they're still labeled as GOTY. If the Game Awards aspires to be THE official award, then it should come up with a terminology of its own to let its winners stand out from the rest. Otherwise, the award itself will carry very little meaning outside the event itself. Something like GA:BG (Game Awards: Best Game) or GA:#1G (Game Awards: Number One Game) or GA:GOTY (you get the gist). "You can be whomever's GOTY you want to be, but there's only one GA:#1BGOTY in town!"

IMHO.

@bobthehollow: But you don't think that the Game Awards are rigged? Like how Overwatch bought Game of the Year over Doom or Titanfall 2?

LMAO

Overwatch the best esports game? HAHAHAHHA Sure! SURE! They just started their actual esport scene....

F****** joke this award show,

@bobthehollow: I agree that some of the "awards" are stupid... like you said, the "most anticipated" game is basically just a hype award. The fact that LOU 2 (which isn't coming for years) won over something like RDR 2, is just stupid.

A Way Out literally won everything! It won the whole show!

@HardMode88:

A lot of them are what I expected after seeing @john_coronados thread_

Nier: Automata does have a fantastic musical score, one of my favorite parts of the game. Yet for me Sonic Mania was my personal favorite. Much deserved for Automata anyway.

Can't argue with The Last of Us 2, would have preferred Monster Hunter: World, the one that backs up the hype with great gameplay. Yet honestly I thought Red Dead 2 would have won. You'd think more are excited for that game considering the quantity of Rockstar fans

. . .

Think for Resident Evil 7 you mistook "Best Game Direction" for something else. Out of all the rewards you're disagreeing with, I find that the weirdest to see negatives in. . Well maybe your notes on PUBG. But as you stated, that's a whole other subject.

The Game Direction is excellent because it's what the core fans have been screaming for years, as well as a game the VR crowd are overly praising. Any fan will tell you Resi 7 went back to what made the series enjoyable in the first place. Survival Horror. As for "mediocre execution" Seems you're attempting to convince your opinion is somekind of fact, when it's very much an unpopular viewpoint for Resident Evil 7. It's an overall well received game.

Resident Evil 7 has its issues, but for those that like Survival Horror, is a must-play. Perhaps you're not the target audience. And it can be that simple.

If nothing else mention the games you think should be snatching attention? I'm interested in knowing what games you think make Resident Evil 7 look mediocre in 2017.

Nier: Automata is one of those rare games that is not hidden behind a paywall or inside developer. The reason the game wasn't on Xbox is due to Square Enix not seeing a large enough profit with the ports on Xbox.

If you guys want games like Nier: Automata? The Xbox community has to have an audience change. Buying these kind of games on your platform. No poll will get you that port, Enix want to know they can sell these games with better sale figures.

I'm not against the Xbox One, but my guess is your overall consumer-base just isn't interested. They tried many times on the 360 and early Xbox One and those games didn't sell to company standards.

The best streamer award went to Dr.Disrespect right?

I wish Shroud got it xD

@skullcrusher98: Best streamer was not included in the categories. Only Trending Gamer. But yeah, he's quite popular @DrDisRespect.

@RSM-HQ: I somehow agree that RE7 should be The Best Game Direction. Capcom was eagerly ironing their way as best as they could to stick back in survival horror genre. Game Direction, technically, continues the series' plot or narrative that could make newer conflict and resolution in the game's story and I think RE7 achieved that aspect.

@bobthehollow: RE7 was not totally a "mediocre execution", though it might somehow an Outlast ripoff if not because of the setting, they made the 7th a well-crafted sequel that entailed great pacing. Maybe, it was not super impactful for longtime fans of the series because of the new characters and the introduction of FPS approach in an RE game didn't ring a bell to the majority of fans like me. The fixed camera angle is still preferred by the fans including me. It's a legit plea from the RE community.

Glad to see X1 won a couple of awards.Well deserved.

@RSM-HQ@HardMode88

So, when talking about Best Game Direction, you two are talking about the direction that the series is headed now, with this latest installment? Sorry for asking, just trying to make sure I understand your arguments.

I think you might be linking those questions too much towards another reward called 'Best On-Going Game' (but I do agree the titles for these are dumb)

I'd imagine 'Best Game Direction' isn't for rewarding the future of the IP, but the game in question itself, and how it's held for what it does to be appealing towards its target audience.

If nothing it's still your "argument" I'm finding the one in mystery. You're not really telling us what game is Resident Evil 7s better in that category, just calling the game mediocre with no real merits to back such a bold claim.

Think you'll find it's a very niche bunch on the camera. Always found this a weird discussion subject because in every respect fixed camera angles have not aged well at all, and even then Resident Evil Remake is most certainly my favorite in the series.

Remake and Zero even paid for it both critically and in sales (being a Gamecube exclusive probably didn't help either) But fixed cameras was the go to complaint of Capcom 'falling behind the times'. Even then I'd still welcome fixed cameras for Remake 2, however think being re-designed in a way that works better in 2018 than it did in 1998 would welcome more to the idea

Back to Resi7-

I will agree that the First Person View/ and stealth focus was the biggest eye-roll for me going in (First ten minutes being a walking simulator). Now that I've beaten it, and then some, what I dislike most is the on-rails progression. No options to really change your experience and see new sides to these horrors. A feature the older games did really well.

Most 'old fans' I know actually enjoy Resident Evil 4 as well. Not so much 5 and 6 but who could blame them? Seeing as Capcom went for the buddy coop crowd for increased sales.

Resident Evil 7 wasn't exactly my personal savour in bringing back Survival Horror (The Evil Within is doing that better imo), but Resi 7 did a far better job than expected, and all those Nemesis mechanics being re-tweaked for the game are both awesome and a nice surprise.

@RSM-HQ: Hey there. So, I'm not actually linking those two categories, I was getting the feeling you guys were. ^^

Well, regarding the nomination, this categories is stated to be "[a]warded to a game studio for outstanding creative vision and innovation in game direction and design" and I fail to see how this game could be an example of either. It wasn't creative or innovative in any way. It's just doing the same thing everybody else is doing, regarding survival horror, and it just isn't doing it well enough to outshine its competition in any meaningful way. Like I said, it's mediocre, it isn't bad, it isn't good, it just... is.

Also, it wouldn't have to be replaced by another game of the same genre, this isn't a Best Survival Horror award. Why not Divinity: Original Sin 2 for example. I think it fits perfectly in this category. Why not Cuphead or Hellblade?

@bobthehollow said: It wasn't creative or innovative in any way.

Disagree. The first full AAA game with VR. Many seem to really like the Bakers and the twists as the game goes on with them. The whole tape feature and how it changes rooms is pretty clever and creative as well. Don't know what else to put to be honest, if you read mine and @HardMode88s posts we've listed quite a few between us.

Like I said, it's mediocre, it isn't bad, it isn't good, it just... is

Opinions I guess, would have been nice if you mentioned some of these things that doesn't make it creative or innovative. Yet as stated, disagree. Not my favorite Resi, but a decent game none-the-less. Only won one award regardless though but glad it was nominated for more. Great year for games.

Why not Divinity: Original Sin 2 for example. I think it fits perfectly in this category. Why not Cuphead or Hellblade?

Only Hellblade from that list would fit 'Best Game Direction', due to its take on mental illness. But in my playtime the game itself is boring with unresponsive movement and underwhelming combat_

The whole game of Hellblade is arena after arena doing bad puzzles and putting up with the combat. Should have won 'Best Narrative' maybe but doesn't deserve anything else other than what it already grabbed.

As much as I love Divinity 2 (still playing and loving it) it's just another D&D simulator. Maybe top class. But everything it does has been seen in every Age, Pilliars, Baldurs etc. If being creative or innovative was the hit you was going for. Divinity 2 doesn't hit that note at all. Best Role-Playing Game? Sure, but Persona 5 won so I can see the logic behind Divinity Original Sin 2s loss.

Lastly Cuphead. . . Is Contra almost to a tracing pace. A game series/ dodge and shoot genre that can be grabbed on every device, even your phone. Cuphead was rewarded on its main area of praise; which was its artstyle and animation. It's game direction is heavily recycled and was perfected in the 80/ 90s. Cuphead is less a Shovel Knight (creative) and more a cosmetic attraction.

@HardMode88: I'm about 15 hours in now. I bought the ultimate edition. I came to the conclusion that maybe, just maybe, having MKX's level of dept would turn off potential DC universe fans that may want to get into these kind of games.

I can see a larger focus on environmental interaction that does make for a different layer of depth. I am still enjoying the overall experience and can recommend the game to both fighter aficionados and comic fans.

I guess theres always the next MK around the corner... :D

Yeah, I mean Gravity Rush 2 is clearly the best.

@HardMode88: Hmm, a link?

But of course Zelda won, it´s a nintendo game.

It´s not like Critics care about anything about the nostalgic feeling

Persona 5 winning RPG is well deserved, its my first game in the series and I was really impressed.

Hi @RSM-HQ and sorry for the late reply. So, to address your arguments:

The first full AAA game with VR.

I... don't know if that should be taken into consideration when judging best game direction, to be honest. It doesn't really influence the end result, it's still the same game and... that would kinda be like saying that a movie was better directed for being the first big budget movie to use digital cameras... and it's not even the first, it's just the first big one. Also, they already have a Best VR category.

The Game Direction is excellent because it's what the core fans have been screaming for years

That's... also not related to game direction? It's a pre-production decision. And... ok, imagine your core fans have been asking for a rock simulator, then you make a rock simulator, did you cater to the fanbase? Yes. Is it a good game? Worthy of a Best Game Direction award? No. Now let's say you take over a franchise, and the core fans have been screaming for a shooter that follows on the COD Modern Warfare style, for instance, but then you make an RPG. A damn good RPG. The best RPG ever made. Did you cater to the fans? No. Is it a good game? Yes. Is it worthy of this award? Probably, I mean, it IS the BEST RPG EVER, so...

Many seem to really like the Bakers and the twists as the game goes on with them.

and

all those Nemesis mechanics being re-tweaked for the game are both awesome and a nice surprise.

Well... kinda? I mean, they mostly had a good design, except whenever they turned into giant monsters (especially if it's a giant tentacle monster -giant tentacle monsters are almost a joke, really). But I have qualms about them: the daughter is stupid for thinking I'd choose her and acts like a spoiled brat when I don't; the father turns into a giant monster and his performance during the chainsaw fight is laughable (let's be honest, it's hard to be that inept); the son was used as a cash grab (of course the most well thought out section of the game with the only good puzzles and the only not mind controlled psycho Baker would not have a satisfying ending to it, that's what DLCs are for!); the grandmother... why can't I shoot her? The moment she shows up out of thin fucking air, you know she's up to something. You just know it. The first time she showed up I just really really wanted to shoot her. I have a gun and she's a psycho. Let me shoot her...; the mother, I actually have no qualms about her. Except for...; the mind control. That was a cheap one, in my book. It felt like a copout for not having to write an arc for the Bakers' atonement, and it means that we never fought the mind controlled Bakers at all. They were never there. They were all Eveline. There are no Bakers. It's "the clone saga" all over again...

The whole tape feature and how it changes rooms is pretty clever and creative as well.

Yes, it is. =]

So, as arguments in favor of the game, you have mentioned VR, catering to fans, the Bakers, and the tapes.

Then you gave arguments against the game:

"I will agree that the First Person View/ and stealth focus was the biggest eye-roll for me going in (First ten minutes being a walking simulator). Now that I've beaten it, and then some, what I dislike most is the on-rails progression. No options to really change your experience and see new sides to these horrors. A feature the older games did really well."

"Resident Evil 7 wasn't exactly my personal savour in bringing back Survival Horror (The Evil Within is doing that better imo)"

"Not my favorite Resi"

So, as arguments against the game, you have mentioned FPS, stealth, and linearity. You even said that the Evil Within is better in your opinion. Shouldn't you be advocating for that game to have been nominated instead?

To your list, I'll add really stupid characters (she shouldn't have sent the video if she didn't want him to come looking for her and he shouldn't have gone alone. Seriously, if you're ever in a scenario like this, just call the cops. Please? Just call the cops...), blob monsters that aren't either threatening or dangerous enough, a final boss with "god-like" powers -including the power to just get the **** out of there- that manages to get killed by an untrained civilian, and the most - stupid - choice - ever: whether to cure Zoe or Mia. Really? I have to choose between the long lost love of my life with whom I have just been reunited, the sole reason for me to have come here in the first place, or a total stranger? Gee what a hard choice... Why not ask me whether I should kill Hitler or Gandhi? I'll probably have to think just as much as with the other one...

In the end, I'm still not saying the game is awful, all I'm saying is that it's mediocre, it's nothing special. 6/10

@bobthehollowThat's... also not related to game direction? It's a pre-production decision. And... ok, imagine your core fans have been asking for a rock simulator, then you make a rock simulator, did you cater to the fanbase? Yes. Is it a good game? Worthy of a Best Game Direction award? No.

I think that's one part of the big picture of what Game Direction is. You tend to correlate the sales and the quality of the game itself. RE7 actually entailed some of the factors that achieved good direction and I am talking about the series all throughout. Fun, Creativity, Graphics and Sound did ring a bell in RE7. But everything is not what we seem to happen sometimes. There's a lot of better games every now and then but RE7 took the other way around which is not actually the best among the best. The shift to FPS, I believed contributed an edge at some point in the game because it really immersed the player VR-wise, the pacing was actually commendable too during the unfolding of climax's plot but as an RE fan, it was not the best move, promise. I guess Capcom could've won that category if they only recalibrated the gameplay and story while sticking to the fixed angle camera. The game design of previous RE games was more likely inclined to achieve that definite game direction. I hate to admit this, but only Shinji Mikami can bring that RE's quality, value, and momentum concept which can hugely affect even in the narrative category.

@j_deezy: Hellblade really deserved that. I think one of the reasons why AAA games are really having a hard time achieving a good narrative its because most of the game elements were focused in gameplay to the point it dehighlighted the presentation of a good narrative. Unlike Edith Finch, that game was not super AAA but then the game balances good gameplay and a satisfying narrative.

You really know the VGA are bollocks when Cuphead doesn't win best soundtrack too.

That would be a big claim. Without proper evidence I'd be more inclined to say "biased" or "incompetent."

I'd also like to suggest that the awards should have two distinct categories for story and narrative. Story would obviously award the story itself and narrative, as in storytelling, would award the game on how well it implemented storytelling techniques. Was it a movie broken up by gaming sections, or did it go the extra mile and actually incorporated gaming into the storytelling?