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Proving once and for all that the "vocal minority" is still very much a thing, The Last of Us Part II, won "Ultimate Game of the Year" at The Golden Joystick Awards 2020. These awards are all voted on by the community, save for the "Critic's Choice" category. That means that people, gamers like you and me, voted for The Last of Us Part II to be their game of the year for 2020.
Naughty Dog and The Last of Us Part II also took home a number of additional awards. These awards include "Studio of the Year" along with awards for "Best Storytelling," "Best Visual Design," "Best Audio," and "PlayStation Game of the Year."
The full list of this year's winners can be found below.
Best Storytelling - The Last of Us 2
Best Multiplayer Game - Fall Guys
Best Visual Design - The Last of Us 2
Best Game Expansion - No Man's Sky: Origins
Mobile Game of the Year - Lego Builder's Journey
Best Audio - The Last of Us 2
Best Indie Game - Hades
Still Playing - Minecraft
Studio of the Year - Naughty Dog
Esports Game of the Year - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Best New Streamer / Broadcaster - iamBrandon
Best Family Game - Fall Guys
Best Gaming Community - Minecraft
Best Performer - Sandra Saad (Kamala Khan)
Breakthrough Award - Innersloth (Among Us)
Outstanding Contribution - The Gaming Industry
PC Game of the Year - Death Stranding
Best Gaming Hardware - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080
PlayStation Game of the Year - The Last of Us 2
Xbox Game of the Year - Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Nintendo Game of the Year - Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Most Wanted Game - God of War: Ragnarok
Critic's Choice - Hades
Ultimate Game of the Year - The Last of Us 2
Best Multiplayer Game - Fall Guys
Best Visual Design - The Last of Us 2
Best Game Expansion - No Man's Sky: Origins
Mobile Game of the Year - Lego Builder's Journey
Best Audio - The Last of Us 2
Best Indie Game - Hades
Still Playing - Minecraft
Studio of the Year - Naughty Dog
Esports Game of the Year - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Best New Streamer / Broadcaster - iamBrandon
Best Family Game - Fall Guys
Best Gaming Community - Minecraft
Best Performer - Sandra Saad (Kamala Khan)
Breakthrough Award - Innersloth (Among Us)
Outstanding Contribution - The Gaming Industry
PC Game of the Year - Death Stranding
Best Gaming Hardware - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080
PlayStation Game of the Year - The Last of Us 2
Xbox Game of the Year - Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Nintendo Game of the Year - Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Most Wanted Game - God of War: Ragnarok
Critic's Choice - Hades
Ultimate Game of the Year - The Last of Us 2
It was an "OK" game. I thought that the game was probably twice as long as it needed to be. It really, really dragged on in parts. I liked both main characters and the split yet interwoven storyline between them.
Naughty Dog yet again forces players into these game situations that force you to be excessively violent no matter what your preferred choice is. I mean, just look at the term ludonarrative dissonance and see how many times Naughty Dog's games are brought up.
I came away from the game feeling... well, rather underwhelmed. I was just glad it was over for how long it took to get there. I'd have probably given it a 3 out of 5, maybe a 4 out of 5 depending. It was well put together. Everything was "good" that was there. The visuals were amazing. The acting was phenomenal. The forced combat felt varied enough and the AI was pretty top notch. It was "good" in that sense.
This isn't even taking into account Naughty Dog's excessive crunch or anything outside of the game itself really. I just... Let's just say, if they never made another Last of Us game again, I would be perfectly fine with that.
I just can't get past the idea that these characters are so hell bent on revenge and pain and agony in this post apocalyptic world when they should have more important things to do, like farming, building, anything at all really, though i'm probably missing the subtleties as i decided not to play it, i didn't enjoy the first game enough to be excited for it.
There are dark and depressing works of fiction that win awards because they're so miserable and that's how i see the positive reception to the game, it's excellent at being devoid of joy so it will be recognised for that, it's just not for me.