Will Forza Horizon 5 be GOTY?

[Thorrgal]

It won't due to it's genre, the same way a FIFA game wouldn't win even if it was the best footbal game ever. There's a lot of journalist that don't play those games, and a lot of fans that are not interested in them. Those who are are really into it mind you, but it's not the majority.

 

[arsene_P5]

Nope it's not a 3rd person narrative driven game. It has no chance.

I will likely be the highest rated game this year though.

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And this shows up everything what's wrong with GotY awards. Gran Turismo, Forza, ... any racing game really could be the highest scoring game. But they would never win the GotY award at TGA or another serious show. Why? Because it's a racing game and I absolutely think there is a genre BS in the industry.

 

[bytesized]

Who knows, maybe FH5 is the game to break this ridiculous notion that a racing game cannot be a GOTY (same with other genres). Honestly, I'm so tired of the cinematic story driven 3rd person shooter being always the recipient of all attention when it comes to GOTY deliberations in some circles.

I really would love to see that because that would mean we get an awesome FH, I love FH4

 

[Kuga]

I don't think a 10/10 racing game could win GoTY. This is a slow year for AAA so maybe FH5 has a long shot, but still highly doubtful.

 

[JusDoIt]

Returnal is already GOTY

 

[arsene_P5]

It won't due to it's genre, the same way a FIFA game wouldn't win even if it was the best footbal game ever. There's a lot of journalist that don't play those games, and a lot of fans that are not interested in them. Those who are are really into it mind you, but it's not the majority.

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You are right about journalist, but wrong about fans. Forza horizon and FIFA are some of the most played games in the industry. It's really just the journalist genre BS that prevents these games from winning.

 

[Hentz]

Metroid will snatch GOTY.

 

[Eamon]

You are right about journalist, but wrong about fans. Forza horizon and FIFA are some of the most played games in the industry. It's really just the journalist genre BS that prevents these games from winning.

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I'm not sure you can draw such a disconnect between games journalists and fans, at least in this sense:

The fans that are tuning in to read IGNs or Gamespot GOTY coverage (or that are watching The Game Awards, or that post on these boards) are far closer to the games media-types than they are the general gamer that plays FIFA and Call of Duty exclusively. We are all part of that bubble. It is why on this site people vastly overstate the hype of something like Elden Ring, which will probably have minimal cultural impact outside of the hardcore gaming enthusiast community.

Now the general fans you are talking about? You are absolutely right

 

[Thorrgal]

The only difference in a Forza Horizon sequel and a Horizon (Zero Dawn) sequel is that the latter will have a new tropey story. That's it. Both will have brand new open world, brand new quest chains, brand new pointless collection tasks, etc. Just happens to be that in one you accomplish objectives using a car and in one you use a bow. I really don't see any difference in terms of how iterative each is, and I say that as a big fan of both games..

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For many people a "tropey" story is better than no story....

 

[Iron Eddie]

Are there any other games this description applies to other than one game, which won in one year because it was exceptional?


Neither are mutually exclusive though.

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Have you explained why racing games, or sports games in general, don't win GOTY?

 

[HiLife]

I think it's going to be the highest rated sports game but nah. I think between Halo, BF2042, It Takes Two, Returnal, Disco Elysium and Rift Apart, it's got stiff competition.

 

[cyrribrae]

There's so much cynicism here o.o I understand it's not the trend (and there are many trends that cut across more than just racing genre). But, I'd love to hear from sites that do GOTY why racing games never make it to the top. Is it that they don't feel this genre makes it to that level, so they never even bother to consider it? Or is it just a game that comes up every year, but they eliminate it early?

I think we all (perhaps correctly) assume it's the first case. But in a year where expectations and routines have been deeply challenged, perhaps we can at least move the meta to the 2nd.

 

[TooBusyLookinGud]

Removed.

 

[digitalrelic]

I hope it's not Ratchet & Clank, to be honest. The game was solid but I want to see something win it that really did something new and inventive, like It Takes Two.

 

[Mdot]

Well those games will see lots of acclaim, but I just don't see them falling into what critics and fans consider "game of the year "

when was the last time a racing or shooter game that wasn't a new IP gotten game of the year in the last 20 years?

we just don't see it happen.

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HL 2 and COD4 both won Game of the Year awards

 

[arsene_P5]

Not with Returnal, Ratchet & Clank, Metroid, Halo, Battlefield also releasing this year.

There is only so much you can do with a racing game. It won't turn the world upside down. It will be ultimately more of the same with fancier graphics.

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Ok and what's so revolutionary from what we know about Metroid, Halo and Battlefield?

Why do we give action games a pass when it comes to innovation but racing games can't just be the same with fancier graphics?

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Genre bias. There were ton of GotY nominees or winners in the last years that weren't innovative or revolutionary. They were extremely well executed games of "more of the same". And that's ultimately a description you can use for some racing games like FH4. Despite FH4 doing some new stuff. One didn't even get nominated, despite scoring higher than many others did. Tells you all you need to know.

With all due respect to people calling Horizon incremental, it really isn't. Each Horizon game is set in a completely new country, an entire open world sized at 2.5x that of Skyrim and beyond, with new cars added, brand new modes, stories, a campaign, major game-changing features like Seasons. Forza Horizon is frankly closer in line with a sequel to an open-world adventure game like Assassin's Creed than it is an incremental sports game al a Madden, Fifa, MLB The Show, NBA 2k, etc. Motorsport is closer to those games tbh, as most of the vehicles and tracks are reused.

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This so much. As one of the mods alluded to, you often get this incremental/sequel talk about racing games, but when it's a game with a narrative that is incremental or just a sequel it gets hand waved.

I'm not sure you can draw such a disconnect between games journalists and fans, at least in this sense:

The fans that are tuning in to read IGNs or Gamespot GOTY coverage (or that are watching The Game Awards, or that post on these boards) are far closer to the games media-types than they are the general gamer that plays FIFA and Call of Duty exclusively. We are all part of that bubble. It is why on this site people vastly overstate the hype of something like Elden Ring, which will probably have minimal cultural impact outside of the hardcore gaming enthusiast community.

Now the general fans you are talking about? You are absolutely right

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I agree.

 

[brawndolicious]

Honestly, I think there's a chance. It's not common at all for racing games but we live in a changing landscape and anything is possible.

I think it's going to be the highest rated sports game but nah. I think between Halo, BF2042, It Takes Two, Returnal, Disco Elysium and Rift Apart, it's got stiff competition.

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Disco Elysium came out like two years ago. For the rest:

• Halo: Maybe if it's absolutely perfect in every element. Sequels to long running series usually don't win unless they're a complete rebuild of all the core mechanics (think GoW 2018 or RDR2).
• Ratchet: Same problem as Halo. Usually these types of sequels don't win unless they introduce a lot of new things and the core gameplay seems to be the same as prior games in the series.
• BF2042: It's super rare for a pure multiplayer game to win but stranger things have happened.
• Returnal: I don't really see this as a GOTY contender since the design choice with the save system turned off a lot of people. It's a solid first entry in a franchise and maybe a sequel in a couple years could fix some issues and expand the features enough to really whoo everyone. Kind of hoping for a Mass Effect 2 situation with it since it seems like a lot of potential is there.

 

[HiLife]

Honestly, I think there's a chance. It's not common at all for racing games but we live in a changing landscape and anything is possible.



Disco Elysium came out like two years ago. For the rest:

• Halo: Maybe if it's absolutely perfect in every element. Sequels to long running series usually don't win unless they're a complete rebuild of all the core mechanics (think GoW 2018 or RDR2).
• Ratchet: Same problem as Halo. Usually these types of sequels don't win unless they introduce a lot of new things and the core gameplay seems to be the same as prior games in the series.
• BF2042: It's super rare for a pure multiplayer game to win but stranger things have happened.
• Returnal: I don't really see this as a GOTY contender since the design choice with the save system turned off a lot of people. It's a solid first entry in a franchise and maybe a sequel in a couple years could fix some issues and expand the features enough to really whoo everyone. Kind of hoping for a Mass Effect 2 situation with it since it seems like a lot of potential is there.

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Disco was made available for console players for the first time this year. It's not like there's an ultimate "GOTY" award given out annually. Multiple outlets will be doing their own, in addition to my own personal preference regarding what I think GOTY should be. Disco should be considered by Playstation outlets, I'd hope.

I think the only games I played this year that probably won't even be considered (although enjoyed) were RE8 and Hitman 3. How I feel about these games is how you feel about Halo and R&C lol. But I think Halo has a lot more riding on it considering it should be Halo's big comeback.

I forgot Strive. It's cool seeing Guilty Gear rise in popularity. Until I play anything better this year, I'd like to see it take the fighting game category.

 

[trashbandit]

I would be shocked if a racing game was the actual goty, but I'm sure it'll be a great game.

 

[Bugalugs214]

Coming second to Halo infinite will be good enough.

 

[mecaguendeu]

Playground are killing it with every new game. They deserve it finally.

 

[Deleted member 81269]

Guilty Gear Strive has a higher meta (87)than Returnal with 50+ Reviews and doesnt get a mention. It's a genre thing.

 

[SaintBowWow]

This thread will be interesting to return to in December. It's a fairly weak year and FH5 is going to be a big exclusive next-gen showcase game that's releasing in November. Barring an indie darling like Hades bursting into the scene I think it's got a serious shot, and at the least I think it will get more nods than racing games are used to so long as it's off the same quality of previous Forza Horizon games.

 

[FBGMM2]

Nothing will top Returnal

 

[kubev]

Forza Horizon 5 will probably be my Game of the Year, but I don't foresee many reviews outlets making it Game of the Year, as Forza Horizon games are too often thought of as simple iterations. That said, as much as I'll love Forza Horizon 5, I do wish the series would make larger changes to appeal to more people. Honestly, I think a really solid and dynamic story mode could do the trick, but I don't think that'll happen.

 

[starfoxxxy]

Weird how everyone is acting like The Game Awards is next week. There's still 5 months left in the year.

I could easily see Deathloop getting it if it reviews like Dishonored 2

 

[J_ToSaveTheDay]

If the quality remains consistent with FH4, it will deserve GOTY consideration but get overlooked due to its genre.

 

[Liquid Snake]

I sure hope it's GOTY. Forza Horizon 4 was just fucking incredible, straight up. I could easily see this being as good/better.

 

[medyej]

Nope, even if it might deserve it. There are only certain types of games eligible for wide goty awards, and we all know it.

 

[ThereAreFourNaan]

It's difficult to see a path to aggregate GOTY for a racing game, no matter how good. It's not impossible it will win a few goty awards from specific outlets.

 

[Betty]

It kinda has to be or it'll show there's an obvious bias in the industry.

 

[Ostinatto]

Yes, it did.

Gears of War won a couple too. Dice and GDC for sure. Fable II won several that year including a BAFTA. Just off top of my head.

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Halo CE could have won some Goty awards, no doubt about that, but Grand Theft Auto III, Metal Gear solid 2, Final Fantasy X came out that year too, im pretty sure one of these got the most amount of Goty awards that year, althou that happened 20 years ago idk if that is relevant with the MS lack of GOTY contenders situation nowadays.

 

[Rosebud]

It should be Great Ace Attorney but VNs are even more overlooked than racing games.

 

[Kolx]

No, most outlets picked Uncharted:

2016

We're tracking Game of the Year (GOTY) awards from around the world. Discover what media outlets and players voted as the best titles every year.

www.gameawards.net

No, if it was just about being incremental, you would at least expect multiplayer games to win sometimes, since they can vary widely and have evolved substantially over the years and yet, as the link above shows, no multiplayer has won for as far back as the site has bothered tracking. Overwatch did become a runner up, which is very impressive, since multiplayer games in general have no chance of winning. As I said earlier, cultural phenomens like CoD4: MW, World of Warcraft, Fortnite, League of Legends etc. stand no chance of winning.

It's basically a single player game of the year competition.

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I assumed we were talking about the TGA, and my reply wasn't about MP games not winning but non-action adventure having no chance as the person I quoted was saying.

 

[TheClaw7667]

Reviewers make up an incredibly small percentage of the people that play games so it's not that shocking that the genre that wins the most GOTY awards happens to be the one that appeals to the most people.

 

[Parcas]

Given how the year has been I really feel this year will be the year a lot of GOTY awards will go to some indie game. It allows them to have the narrative that they put indie games at the same level that of AAA games.
Then next year when big AAA games do actually release they will go to the typical stuff of giving to whatever blockbuster from a big publisher so they keep them happy.

 

[Handsome James]

No because Psychonauts 2 will

 

[HelloItsPulse]

Forza Horizon deserved GOTY every year it released, FH5 will be no different. It won't though because a bunch of people that never played Forza Horizon will say "It's just another racing game".

I don't even care if it wins, but I really hope it at least gets put in the nominations for GOTY at The Game Awards, Playground Games deserves the recognition.

 

[The_R3medy]

Could it? Sure.

But we don't traditionally value racing games at the level we do narrative games. So I'd rate it's chances at 1/100 even if it's a 95 on metacritic.

 

[starfoxxxy]

Forza Horizon deserved GOTY every year it released, FH5 will be no different. It won't though because a bunch of people that never played Forza Horizon will say "It's just another racing game".

I don't even care if it wins, but I really hope it at least gets put in the nominations for GOTY at The Game Awards, Playground Games deserves the recognition.

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it will 100% win best racing game

 

[Deleted member 68874]

Lol no.

There are some genres that will never win. Racing is one of them.

 

[Dolce]

Gaming has really stupid biases against genres like racing, sports, etc.

 

[Brazil]

A racing game like Forza Horizon will never lead in GotYs because GotYs are silly.

Another proof that GotYs are silly is the fact that the OP is weighing the possibility before even touching the game.

 

[Neo Ankh]

Evidently there are never racing games, sports games, fighting games, puzzle games, simulation games or strategy games prestigious enough for the mighty GotY award.

 

[Onlywantsapples]

A racing game like Forza Horizon will never lead in GotYs because GotYs are silly.

Another proof that GotYs are silly is the fact that the OP is weighing the possibility before even touching the game.

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ding ding ding

 

[inner-G]

For me it probably will. FH4 I've put at least 100hrs into, and there's not a lot else I'm excited for this year.

 

[Gatsbits]

If its good , it should be GOTY for all the series. Racing games is not so popular like before but Forza Horizon is THE series that makes this genre still in the race.

 

[Bede-x]

I assumed we were talking about the TGA, and my reply wasn't about MP games not winning but non-action adventure having no chance as the person I quoted was saying.

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I know your response wasn't about MP, but I'm trying to explain what the categories having a chance are. It's not about being incremental, but about it being a single player competition.

And TGA wasn't mentioned by the poster you responded to, so I thought we were talking about "overall".

 

[Scruffy8642]

It'll probably be Ratchet, which sucks because it's a disappointingly mediocre entry in the series.

It probably should do fairly well, there isn't a whole lot this year that's really GotY material tbh.

 

[Boots The God]

I doubt it even though i know it's gonna be 🔥. Do multiplayer games ever win GOTY? Serious question 😂