Topic: 2022 NWR Forum Awards - Best Nintendo Game

[M.K.Ultra]

The 2022 NWR Forum Awards

Best Nintendo Game

The results of the poll will only be revealed once the voting is done (December 13). You should be able to change your vote until then. Make sure to sound off in the comments if the game is on your backlog as we can have a separate award for that. Even though the official nominees list is closed, you can still reply with a write-in. Best of luck to all the nominees.

[Evan_B]

Regrettably, I have to say Xenoblade Chronicles 3.

[NWR_insanolord]

I’m not voting yet because I want to try to play a bit more of a couple of them, but right now I’m leaning toward Mario & Rabbids.

[nickmitch]

I haven't had a chance to play everything on this list I wanted—specifically Bayo 3 and (my vote for most backlogged) M+R2. I've wanted to complete playthroughs of Bayo 1&2 since the Wii U, but I have yet to.

That said, I voted for Kirby. It's my personal favorite out of what I've played. I loved Legends Arceus, and it was easy to replay for shiny hunting purposes while watching something. I like SV, but the technical issues keep it firmly out of GOTY status.

Also, Splatoon 3 is great, but it needed a little more "oomph" to get over how good Splatoon 2 was. I liked the story, and the new levels are great. I just can't help but feel annoyed at my win rate against King Salmonids and the prizes I got when I did win.

[Khushrenada]

Because it is always best to be technically correct, the N64 app first launched last year in 2021 so it could be argued that it shouldn't be counted with these other games first released in 2022.

[M.K.Ultra]

Because it is always best to be technically correct, the N64 app first launched last year in 2021 so it could be argued that it shouldn't be counted with these other games first released in 2022.

Sadly that information would have been helpful in the earlier thread where I proposed the idea.

[M.K.Ultra]

I thoroughly enjoyed Bayonetta 3 and by the end of it I was literally dancing in front of the TV, but Splatoon 3 has given me more hours of fun and so I ended up voting for it. This is a competitive category this year and shows a strong first and second party lineup from Nintendo in 2022.

[Luigi Dude]

The only games on that list I've played are Kirby and Xenoblade 3.  I do plan on playing Bayonetta 3 early next year.  I still have to play Splatoon 2 and the first Mario + Rabbids before I play their sequels.  I'll eventually get Live A Live but already have a big RPG backlog with Final Fantasy 7,8,9 and the Saga Gameboy Collection, as well as the remake of Saga 2 and 3.  Still need to play the remake of Trails of Mana as well since I loved the SNES original when I played it for the first time in Collection of Mana over 2 years ago.  Oh and then there's Octopath Traveler which is getting a sequel next year as well.

So yeah, I keep dragging my feet on RPG's since they take so long to play, which just keeps making my backlog of them more and more overwhelming.  I mean I finally played all 3 Fire Emblem Fate games this year and together they ended up taking over 130 hours to do, which makes it my most played game of the year with Shin Megami Tensei 4 being the 2nd most played game with over 110 hours into as well.  Which reminds me I still need to play Fire Emblem Echo's and Shin Megami Tensei 4 Apocalypse for the 3DS, before I can play Three Houses and SMT 5 on the Switch.

So yeah I'll finally get to play Live A Live around 2030.


Anyway, getting back to the two games I've played this year that are on this list, it's basically a coin flip between Kirby and Xenoblade 3.  I currently still playing Xenoblade 3 so I'm not going to vote just yet.  I would say that Kirby is the much better balance experience being way more consistent from beginning to end, but Xenoblade 3 has had some higher highs so far.  The game just took forever to finally get started, but ever since the entire battle system finally opened up I've been having a blast.  Lets see how I still feel about the game a week from now.

[Khushrenada]

Because it is always best to be technically correct, the N64 app first launched last year in 2021 so it could be argued that it shouldn't be counted with these other games first released in 2022.

Sadly that information would have been helpful in the earlier thread where I proposed the idea.

Well, then, I know what I'm voting for.  

[Khushrenada]

Man, there's a lot I agree on here.

The only games on that list I've played are Kirby and Xenoblade 3.

Yep. I've played Kirby. If I was caught up on the XB series, I'd probably have been tempted to get into 3rd this year but need to get back and finish X. Really feeling like doing that during the holiday time at the end of the month.

I still have to play Splatoon 2 and the first Mario + Rabbids before I play their sequels.

Yep, yep. Having tackled the first Splatoon during Backlaugust, I would like to check in with Splatoon 2 especially now that I'm on the Expansion Pak and could also access the Octo Mode addition. Mario + Rabbids keeps getting talked up positively on these forums and with the sequel now out, it keeps coming up high on my I-Should-Get-To-This-Next list in my head.

I'll eventually get Live A Live but already have a big RPG backlog with Final Fantasy 7,8,9. Oh and then there's Octopath Traveler which is getting a sequel next year as well.

Yep, yep, yep. I've resisted getting FF8 and FF9 at this point despite constant sales since I haven't even gotten close to starting a bunch of other RPGs for the Switch. (And yet, I'm still ready to buy more like Live A Live and the Octopath Sequel.)

So yeah, I keep dragging my feet on RPG's since they take so long to play, which just keeps making my backlog of them more and more overwhelming.  I mean I finally played all 3 Fire Emblem Fate games this year and together they ended up taking over 130 hours to do, which makes it my most played game of the year. Which reminds me I still need to play Fire Emblem Echo's and Shin Megami Tensei 4 Apocalypse for the 3DS, before I can play Three Houses and SMT 5 on the Switch.

Exactly, exactly, exactly. I drag my feet on RPGs for the same reason. Although I've come to realize that sometimes the games I think I can get done sooner end up taking as long or more than some RPGs because then I get more into them and trying to complete them. Hollow Knight has been like 90 hours or more for me when I thought that would be less. I should check my playtime on Picross 3D Round 2 but I feel like that's possibly over the 40 hour mark at this point with still more puzzle to complete. So, I've been trying to not put off RPGs on the expectation they will be longer.

In that regards, I decided to tackle my first Fire Emblem game with Fates: Birthright earlier this year. I was playing it pretty steady at first and then slowed down and trailed off around Chapter 21. The story became pretty filler after a strong start and I was trying to keep partnering people to progress the little conversations they can have with each other and ended up just killing interest in it.

However, I'm not too concerned with playing the Fire Emblem games in order of North American release. But this does remind me that I should get Revelations before the eShop closes in the hopes Conquest and Revelations are indeed better than Birthright.

[Luigi Dude]

In that regards, I decided to tackle my first Fire Emblem game with Fates: Birthright earlier this year. I was playing it pretty steady at first and then slowed down and trailed off around Chapter 21. The story became pretty filler after a strong start and I was trying to keep partnering people to progress the little conversations they can have with each other and ended up just killing interest in it.

However, I'm not too concerned with playing the Fire Emblem games in order of North American release. But this does remind me that I should get Revelations before the eShop closes in the hopes Conquest and Revelations are indeed better than Birthright.

The gameplay in Conquest and Revelations is indeed better then Birthright.  If I had to score the 3 Fates games they'd go like this.

Conquest - 9/10
Revelations - 8/10
Birthright - 7/10

Conquest in particular is easily one of the best games I played this year.  I was playing the game on Hard mode with perma death turned on and lost some of my best characters right before the last chapter.  Beating the last chapter alone took me about 10 hours, and for awhile I thought I was completely screwed but eventually I created an epic suicide charge that basically cost the lives of almost my entire team, but I was able to protect my main character and his wife who was paired with him, with their stats boasted by every item I had left so that they could successfully kill the final boss.

That was probably my top gaming moment of the year.

[M.K.Ultra]

Congratulations to the winners from The Game Awards!

• Bayonetta 3 won Best Action Game
• Kirby and the Forgotten Land won Best Family Game
• Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope won Best Sim/Strategy Game
• Splatoon 3 won Best Multiplayer

[Ian Sane]

This is my first year after getting a Switch so most of what I've played have only been new to me as I've created a backlog of older titles I could get cheap.  Pokemon Scarlet is the only 2022 title I have and I wouldn't feel right voting for it by default.  It's a weird situation since I'm having tons of fun with it but on a technical level it's a mess.  So it's a great game that needed more time to get polished and maybe it will get there eventually from patches but should I vote for 2022 Game of the Year to a game that probably shouldn't have been finished and released until 2023?

[M.K.Ultra]

The Award for Best Nintendo Game Goes To...

Xenoblade Chronicles 3

This fourth installment in the Xenoblade Chronicles franchise was released July 29, 2022 and was developed by Monolith Soft. As of September 2022 it had sold 1.72 million copies. NWR gave the game a 9/10 and reviewer John Rairdin said "Regardless of how you came to Xenoblade, either through one of many incarnations of the original, or through its sequel, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 strives to satiate all audiences and it is largely successful in this endeavor while also presenting something entirely new.". Clearly the game is popular with forum users as 5 out of 9 votes went to this beloved JRPG.
Thanks to everyone who voted or commented in this inaugural awards presentation!

[Order.RSS]

Thanks for running all these awards, MK Ultra. 

I didn't play a single notable 2022 release so didn't have much to add. I'm half-interested in almost the entire list, but Bayo 3 is probably the only one I'll actually pick up at some point. This often happens to me when Nintendo is doing well, I usually prefer their output during less successful cycles for some reason. The new Kirby game does seem criminally cute, though.

[M.K.Ultra]

I'm half-interested in almost the entire list, but Bayo 3 is probably the only one I'll actually pick up at some point.

Bayonetta 3 is a great game and is pretty short, unless you are trying to 100% it. Kirby is the big one on this list that I want but don't have. At this point I will wait for a price drop. So many great Switch exclusives in one year and a lot of variety too.

Almost time to tally up those 2022 predictions Order.RSS