“And the winner of #TWRMGOTY1997 is…”
3 min read
For a whole week, we’ve voted as a community to name a single game that Game of the Year of 1997, and it came down to a tie between the JRPG juggernaut from Square and Konami’s castle-filled nighttime nocturne. In one corner, the brooding blonde, Cloud Strife, and in the other, the silver-haired shapeshifter, Alucard!
The battle was hard fought and we received about 200 votes. Thank you to everyone who voted in this Reader’s Choice event!
Next time, I’m going to make this bigger and better than ever, but oh yes, you’re here to see the winner. Here are the results of the main poll and then the tie-breaker:
And the winner is Final Fantasy VII!
What a close round! We almost went into double overtime and had to call upon an unbiased third-party to make the final call, but the contest ended up being decided by a single vote. Things kept neck and neck pretty much throughout the entire round.
This is the first time my nomination has won a GOTY event here (last time my nomination came in last), and I want to thank the Hyperactive Coffee Mage and congratulate Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on a battle well fought. This got intense, and while jokes were had at the expense of either game, I think we kept it pretty civil in regards to the individuals who love either title, or neither of them.
1997 was one of the most incredible years in gaming history with so many landmark titles being released and so many great consoles in the game simultaneously. Inevitably, these results can’t please everyone and this may not be your Game of the Year but it is evidently the community’s, so thank you again to everyone who voted. I enjoyed the threads, the debates, the discussion, and the celebration of video games!
Enjoy the soundtrack by the legendary Nobuo Uematsu!
A MASSIVE thank you goes out to the writers who made this collab so fun and brought a genuine competitive spirit to the game while respecting the opinions of others! You are the exemplars that the gaming world needs.
See you next time for another GOTY Reader’s Choice event!
Red formerly ran The Well-Red Mage and now serves The Pixels as founder, writer, editor, and podcaster. He has undertaken a seemingly endless crusade to talk about the games themselves in the midst of a culture obsessed with the latest controversy, scandal, and news cycle about harassment, toxicity, and negativity. Pick out his feathered cap on Twitter @thewellredmage, Mage Cast, or Story Mode.
If it wasn’t, I was going to unsubscribe :p I kid of course, but I’d write a strongly worded letter to the editor, though granted losing to Castlevania wouldn’t be too terrible. I mean Alucard stars in that *swoons* Tbh while both games do have a bit of a gothic aesthetic, the gameplay is quite different and could appeal to different people so I say live and let play!
It was a REAL close match with these two! I had no idea SotN was on that level of popularity.
I’m not surprised. It wasn’t the type of game I could play (even though Alucard is a total babe), but I understand the appeal. Plus I listen to the soundtrack myself for background writing/editing music.
I can see why Final Fantasy VII came first, I have only played a short demo of the game, but I have heard of the game. At the time it was released, I remember people talking about the game and their progress, even though they did not seem to be gamers. It is also the reason why I have heard of the Final Fantasy series. I was surprised that Mario Kart 64 did not gain more votes, it seems like a popular and recognisable game and it was a good multiplayer, which would have introduced people to computer games and helped create a social aspect to gaming.
Definitely a tough vote! I lean with Mario Kart 64 but FFVII is definitely legendary and earns its title as GOTY. I need to brush upon my gaming history though since I didn’t even recognize some of the games on this list
97 was a great year! You can’t really go wrong with checking out any of these titles 🙂
I voted VII both times. I know I was shocked when I voted and saw how VII barely had a lead. I guess it’s proof that every vote counts, because sometimes it comes down to the wire!
It really did! I wonder if that was because it was 1997, a beloved year, plus two beloved games, or if we’ll see that sort of thing with the next GOTY event…
Well that’s disappointing 😂
C’est l’amore!