Does Game of the Year really matter?
It’s a nice marketing buzzword, every company would take it. For Nintendo, I’m sure, more than anything, they’re glad Zelda and Mario worked out so well for Switch, and it has a template for launching consoles in the future. Overwhelming people with great content is critical in the first year. The bar has been set pretty high though.
Personally, I think Breath of the Wild is the better game even though Super Mario Odyssey has kept me far more engaged and ready to return to its world. Since progression is much more quantifiable in Odyssey, it’s easier for me and my gaming habits to stick with it. I can play for an hour and feel like I accomplished a lot whereas I need hours to feel that way in Breath of the Wild. I don’t always have several consecutive hours to devote to gaming, often because I’m busy begrudgingly dealing with real responsibilities and sometimes because I don’t have it in me at the moment.
It should be noted that I felt Zelda is far greater need of a change and that is playing a major role in my opinion of it. No other game has filled me the same sense of wonder which can’t be understated. I don’t want to take anything away from Odyssey as there’s still plenty of wonder. Even though I would have been happy with a mere sequel, I’ll gladly take the most refined 3D Mario I’ve ever played.