Day 1 of the GM GOTY Awards 2019 sees the first of two new awards for this year debuting. The crew had a relatively smooth process in whittling down the shortlist to a list of five nominees, and then select one winner.
First impressions are not everything, but always important. This is to celebrate the games that make us hyped, or get us in the mood of playing from the very first thing it loads.
- Devil May Cry 5
- Borderlands 3
- Kingdom Hearts III
- Metro Exodus
- River City Girls
Deliberations Summary
Each of these main menus definitely delivers a strong impression right off the bat. River City Girls’ charming intro song bleeds into the main start screen smoothly if you skip the animation intro. Metro Exodus gets you in the mood of a train ride you’ll remember strongly by having it set all in a literal train, complete with tactile menu buttons.
Kingdom Hearts III stands out among the list for one thing- it’s how evocative it is. The simple (and clean) start screen that’s just a white background and Tetsuya Nomura’s art of Sora, paired with Yoko Shimamura’s new rendition of Dearly Beloved is still a powerful way to start a game. Devil May Cry 5’s menu evolves over time, delivers the Capcom-style title read and also shows some of the fun b-rolls.
But the winner is an easy choice. Not only is the main menu dynamic, featuring sight gags galore, but it has a gameplay function. Borderlands 3 highly recommends you to linger in the main menu for a bit so it can download the latest hotfixes, and you might stick around a bit more- Jesper Kyd’s score in the main menu that changes based on the day-time cycle of the in-game location is such a memorable one.
Congratulations to Borderlands 3 for winning Best Main Menu!
Check back tomorrow as we announce the next new award for GM GOTY 2019: Best Meme Generator! Or check the main GM GOTY 2019 post for the full list of categories and nominees.