The only normal genre-based game award here and it is as it says.
Unlike last year, where the description was a bit wrong, this year the description is correct despite one big change: the award category itself.
2024 has not been a good year for racing games, to the point that the only one game that is tangentially racing-related (but not a racing game per se) made it to the Top 30 Games of 2024.
However, it’s been a bountiful year for RPGs, too many of them, some we still have in the backlog and unfortunately was not considered for the GM GOTY Awards. There were simply too many RPGs, and these games consume so much time to finish to really appreciate them in full, and a team of three people could only play so many games.
Past Winners (as Best Racing Game): The Crew Motorfest (2023), Need For Speed Unbound (2022), Hot Wheels Unleashed (2021), Hotshot Racing (2020), Need For Speed Heat (2019), Forza Horizon 4 (2018)
Best RPG Nominees
- Dragon Age: The Veilguard
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
- Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth
- Metaphor: ReFantazio
- Unicorn Overlord
How The Winner Is Decided (Deliberations Summary)
Establishing what makes an RPG the best is quite the question, as RPGs can be just about anything these days. Though the final five nominations definitely highlight the breadth of the genre. It’s quite the year to spend time on a possibly 100-hour game.
Unicorn Overlord’s approach to a Fire Emblem-esque tactics RPG is impressive, considering it also involves some form of programming that allows you to automate the war effort.
It’s fascinating to see Like A Dragon featured in this category slot yet again this year under different circumstances (Like A Dragon Gaiden had that slot car mini-game, it counts as a racing game). Infinite Wealth was able to improve on Yakuza: Like A Dragon’s solid foundations of a turn-based combat system in great lengths, and seeing Kiryu represented as an RPG character throughout the game is brilliant. And the bountiful amount of side content and mini-games remain impeccable.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard may had too much baggage to really be on the radar for many, but its reinvention into an action-RPG was a successful pivot, with a fun action-based combat system with some depth to it when it comes to making builds. And let us not sleep on the game making the decisions you make matter with one simple trick: letting you know something has happened due to your previous actions.
Meanwhile, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth flexes its action-RPG combat with more party members (with unique movesets), more ways to grow stronger (a new skill tree and team-up attacks), and its huge scope. A huge part of the original RPG has been remade with a AAA budget and it does not disappoint. From the open world exploration to the countless mini-games old and new to distract you from the emotional rollercoaster.
And yet, one of these games stand out for us. Metaphor: ReFantazio is only described as “just like Persona” by those that haven’t played it. The battle system has all the essence of what makes a Persona fight works, but with the Archetypes, a robust yet flexible job system, the meta of Metaphor’s combat is totally different. It’s a game-changer in that it invites players to experiment more with builds and work with the new rules imposed by the replacing Pokemons/Stands with a job system.
And that’s not all. The story and message is more profound than ever.
Best RPG Winner
Congratulations to Metaphor: ReFantazio for winning Best RPG! Studio Zero’s debut may seem like a Persona game set in a fantasy world, but it does more than just that. It’s definitely its own beast, be it from the gameplay aspects or its storytelling.
Check out the Gamer Malaya and Gamer Matters Game Of The Year Awards 2024 hub for full list of awards.