What does it take to be GOTY, and does Astro Bot have it?

I gave Astro Bot 5/5 in my review. It was the first perfect score I've ever given, and while I try not to worry too much about what other people think, I was a little nervous about it. I rarely discuss my points with other journalists, and this was no exception, so I had no idea how it would be received. I'm strict – some would say too strict – about what the bar is when I read other 5/5 reviews, and would have looked a bit silly if everyone else thought it was a bland 3.5 at best.

As you know by now, it wasn't. Astro Bot soared to one of the highest Metacritic scores a Sony game has ever seen, and is a frontrunner for Game of the Year. More to the point (because you really shouldn't care that much about what other people think), I still stand by that point. Now that the novelty has worn off and even the speedrunning updates have shipped, I still consider Astro Bot to be one of the best platformers since its golden age in the 90s. So why am I conflicted about its Game of the Year nominee status?

Astro Bot is the most popular GOTY Nom

There will be a lot of people who have only played one of the six nominated Game of the Year, if we start with The Keighleys as the official shortlist of Good Games this year. In the vast majority of cases, that one game will be Astro Bot. And in the vast majority of these cases, they will have loved it. They'll think it deserves GOTY based on that alone, and they may very well be right. Granted, most of those people will be the public rather than the voting jury, but that's still ten percent of the vote, and I have no doubt that many jurors haven't played all six either.

It just feels a bit like an easy win, and it's hard to root for something with such a large advantage. That's why we love an underdog. But The Game Awards aren't everything. I freely admit that I care about the ceremony more than I should, but that's not the only sign of whether a game was good. Astro Bot seemed to have a procession to the crown at launch (the race looks tighter now, though it remains the favourite), and I wrote about why personal enjoyment of a game should be held onto and not seen solely through the lens of awards and accolades . But it's weird to find myself going into GOTY season with a 5/5 in my pocket and kind of hoping something else leads to the award.

It's the opposite of the phenomenon I felt when I played 1000xResist and wrote about it becoming my indie obsession for 2024. By then I'd already waxed lyrical about both Balatro and Thank Goodness You're Here, but 1000xResist was different. By a hair (to hair), I consider it better than Balatro, and it will be placed higher in my GOTY list. But it also feels like a cool game to go and strike. There is more to say about it than Balatro, and so I want to say more about it.

Astro Bot isn't that deep – does it matter?

Astro Bot enters a casino with neon lights and slot machines.

Balatro is not “just” a card game (in fact, I don't even consider it a poker game at all), but it is also just a card game. You stack cards in different chains to make bigger and bigger numbers. It's pure mechanical excellence, but by that I mean pure mechanics. There isn't much to the game beyond the physical experience of playing. There is nothing that lingers. Astro Bot is much the same.

Everything positive I have to say about Astro Bot is in the game. I could list a bunch of great levels here, and we all have our favorites (I think mine is Slo Mo Casino, although it changes regularly), but we all agree that it plays pretty well. Then there are specific elements of its genius, such as the new use of DualSense, the sound design on Astro's feet, the PlayStation case and the electric use of color. It's a very, very, very good game. But is it something more than that?

It leaves me with a deeper feeling than Balatro because it makes me feel happy like a kid again and Balatro just makes me want to play more Balatro now and forever. But there is no substance to the game beyond the enjoyment of the moment. Then the question becomes “why is it not enough?”. With so many games trying to be movies with photorealistic linear stories with similar and sometimes manipulative emotional beats, why would I want Astro Bot to do that? Isn't it enough that a great platformer is a great platformer? That a video game excels at being a video game and not at effectively masquerading as a more prestigious art form?

The answer to all that is: I don't know. If Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth was up for GOTY at The Game Awards I probably wouldn't care too much because that would be the horse I'd be throwing my money away on. But while Astro Bot is the favorite, this feels like the first TGA since 2019 (not including the Covid-decimated year of 2021) where we don't know who's going to win the GOTY before it even starts. And it's the first TGA in even longer that I've had no idea who I want to win. I think it's going to be Astro Bot, and I think I'll make it. But maybe not.