So would you guys say that the game is deserving of its 97 score on Metacritic
I just finished Chapter 1 after 45h, completed 100% of it from what I could tell.
In my opinion, I'd say the 97 is a bit high, but not far off.
The game has one of the best gameplay and roleplaying options in an RPG. But the story, characters and quest writing is mediocre. I wouldn't call them bad, just not remarkable in any way.
If I were to give a score, it would be 5/5 in a 5 points scale which I always found a better score metric. But in a 100 points scale I'd have to remove some points for the writing, between 90 to 95 fells closer to what I think it deserves.
Though this is my opinion having completed only the first chapter, if the encounters get worse and there is less freedom of roleplaying I could end up liking the game less. Also, maybe the writing gets better, but from what I've read in this thread I'm not expecting this to be the case.
and the multiple predictions for it being GOTY?
quick reminder that dragon age inquisition won GOTY.
It's getting GOTY from PC-focused and more niche publications, but there is no way it's getting Goty in the Doritos Pope Awards, nor in the majority of Gotys overall.
The game is still too complex and niche for the majority of reviewers. The reason why the Metacritic is so high is because publications have their rpg nerds review the game.
But for Goty picks, the reviewers have to agree between themselves, and the more casual of them will accept a game like this over Zelda or Spiderman.
Dragon Age won the Doritos' Goty for simple reasons:
- There was literally no other game that could compete with it for a majority pick in the Goty.
- It's not a niche, "hardcore" rpg like BG3. It's closer to WoW than Dragon Age 1, a big open world theme-park, very casualized gameplay and progression.
2014 had some good games like Bayo2, Das2, Tropical Dong and even Divinity OS, but none of those have the public appeal and scope that the critics want in a Goty.
Bayo, Divinity and Das2 lacked the public appeal. And Dokey Kong was a fucking 2D sidescroller, this type of game will never win Goty because it's not "new", "huge" or "like nothing we've ever seen before".