A word about popularity contests. The Joystick Awards are the result of a vote and every vote is a popularity contest. Well-spotted.
I have seen individual experts of various kinds pour scorn on things the public loves. They are expert - on their own taste. Just like everyone else.
A conversation about hype and marketing in gaming verus quality, however the particular person speaking defines it is something I can imagine spending a lot of time discussing in the past but the debate has no end and, debatably, no point. The less one agrees with apparently popular opinion the more one may be inclined to attribute it to alien distortion whereas when the same factors are in play and the same person agress with the consensus they might have no complaint.
BG3 is an extremely popular game even with players who do not love every origin character, every arc or literally any ending, even players actively campaigning for improvement. They love the characters, the situations, in a word the storytelling. That storytelling has earned affection in a way no game has in a long time. That is what these awards reflect.
