Without any further ado, here are this year’s Golden Joystick Awards categories and nominees:
Best storytelling
- Forgotton Anne
- God of War – Adam’s Choice. It’s clear why, check out my review to see why I adored this game. The storytelling was a major reason for it. The bond between Kratos and Atreus is incredible to watch grow.
- Gorogoa
- Marvel’s Spider-Man – LOL at this being included in Best Storytelling.
- Octopath Traveller
- Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire
- Reigns: Her Majesty
- The Banner Saga 3
- Unavowed
- Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
Best visual design
- Chuchel
- Dead Cells
- Dragon Ball FighterZ – Definitely has a chance, it’s anime in a video game.
- FAR: Lone Sails
- Frostpunk
- God of War – Adam’s Choice. Spider-Man actually had a chance here in my opinion but as it isn’t nominated, it’s Kratos again. This is one of the most beautiful games of all time.
- Gorogoa
- Monster Hunter: World
- Subnautica
- We Happy Few
Best audio design
- Far Cry 5
- Forza Horizon 4 – Let’s wait and see on this one I suppose.
- God of War – Adam’s Choice. Shock, horror, it’s Cory Barlog and Sony Santa Monica again. Not only is the music brilliant, but the sound effects are also amazing and the voice acting is absolutely wonderful.
- Jurassic World: Evolution
- Just Shapes & Beats
- Life is Strange 2
- Monster Hunter: World
- Sea of Thieves – the audio on the waves and music is one of the only acceptable parts of the game.
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider
- Subnautica
Best indie game
- Celeste – Adam’s Choice. Why are we even pretending there’s competition here? It’s a wonderful game that should have been nominated in the storytelling category and would’ve had my vote there too.
- Dead Cells
- Gorogoa
- Into the Breach
- Just Shapes & Beats
- Laser League
- Minit
- Opus Magnum
- Owlboy
- Steamworld Dig 2
Best competitive game
- Arena of Valor
- Call of Duty: WW2
- Dragon Ball FighterZ
- FIFA 19
- Fortnite Battle Royale – Adam’s Choice. It would be wrong to pick anything but the behemoth that is Fortnite. It’s not a video game anymore, it’s pop culture.
- Forza Horizon 4
- Laser League
- Mario Tennis Aces
- PES 2019
- Paladins
Best co-operative game
- A Way Out
- Far Cry 5
- Firewall Zero Hour
- Monster Hunter: World
- No Man’s Sky Next
- Overcooked 2 – Adam’s Choice. Cut and dry here for me, Team17’s kitchen adventure is an incredible co-op experience and deserves recognition for that.
- Sea of Thieves
- State of Decay 2
- Unravel Two
- Warhammer: Vermintide 2
Still playing award
- Destiny 2 – Adam’s Choice. Mainly because I don’t play any of the others anymore. Destiny I at least dabbled with thanks to the events and I’ve only heard positive things about the newest expansion.
- Final Fantasy 14
- Hearthstone
- Overwatch
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
- Pokémon Go
- Rainbow Six Siege
- Warframe
- World of Tanks
- World of Warcraft
eSports game of the year
- Call of Duty: WW2
- Counter-Strike Global Offensive
- Dota 2
- Dragon Ball FighterZ
- FIFA 18
- League of Legends
- Overwatch – Adam’s Choice. I don’t play OW but I did thoroughly enjoy watching matches in the Overwatch League, congratulations to London Spitfire on their incredible victory!
- Rainbow Six Siege
- Rocket League
- Street Fighter V
Best VR game
- Doom VFR
- Firewall Zero Hour
- Flotilla 2
- GNOG
- Moss
- Sprint Vector
- The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim VR
- The Persistence – Adam’s Choice. This is an absolutely brilliant VR game reminiscent of Dead Space.
- Transference
- Wipeout Omega Collection VR
Studio of the year
- Bluepoint Games
- Capcom
- Epic Games
- Insomniac
- Motion Twin
- Rare
- Sony Santa Monica – Adam’s Choice. God of War is clearly a total labour of love and for that reason, the studio deserves immense praise.
- Stoic Studio
- Subset Games
- Unknown Worlds
Mobile game of the year
- Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp
- Donot County
- Florence
- Fortnite – Adam’s Choice. The fact that Fortnite runs so smoothly on mobile is very impressive.
- GNOG
- Gorogoa
- Million Onion Hotel
- PUBG Mobile
- Pokémon Quest
- Reigns: Her Majesty
Nintendo game of the year
- Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
- De Blob 2
- Detective Pikachu
- Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze
- Hollow Knight
- Mario Tennis Aces – Adam’s Choice. Hardly a banner year from Nintendo so far but Aces is the pick of an average bunch.
- Nintendo Labo
- Octopath Traveller
- WarioWare Gold
PlayStation game of the year
- Detroit: Become Human
- Dragon Quest 11
- Firewall Zero Hour
- God of War – Adam’s Choice. 2018 has been the year of PlayStation so far. 50% of that is due to God of War alone.
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
- Moss
- Ni No Kuni 2
- Shadow of the Colossus
- The Persistence
- Yakuza 6
PC game of the year
- Battletech
- Frostpunk
- Into the Breach
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance
- Opus Magnum
- Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire
- Subnautica
- Surviving Mars
- Two Point Hospital – Adam’s Choice. To be honest I have no preference here but a Theme Hospital spiritual successor is something that I love the idea of.
- Warhammer: Vermintide 2
Xbox game of the year
- Forza Horizon 4 – Adam’s Choice. It’s not out yet but between what I played at Gamescom and the demo it’s shaping up to be a genuine contender. The rest of the bunch is pretty average.
- Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
- Nier: Automata
- No Man’s Sky Next
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
- Sea of Thieves
- State of Decay 2
- Warhammer: Vermintide 2
Most wanted game
- Anthem
- Battlefield V
- Control
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Death Stranding
- Doom Eternal
- Dreams
- Ghost of Tsushima
- Kingdom Hearts 3
- Metro Exodus
- Ooblets
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice – Adam’s Choice. Every other answer is wrong and you’re a bad person if you pick any of them.
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
- The Last of Us Part 2
If you want to vote yourself, head right here.
Unsurprisingly, God of War is my pick for the majority and it has been nominated in several categories. Let us know your picks @thelootgaming on Twitter!
