I was very confused, when it was nominated in the steam awards for most innovative game. Made me a bit sad when people do not know what great games are out there that only cost 1/5 of a AAA borefest.
RDR2 was nominated this year for at least one category
It came out years ago, hasn't been updated significantly, and the online component was abandoned. It's a fine game but why the fuck was it in on the ballot for anything? There were a few games this year like that. So weird.
Other games just replay the story with the same stats.
Starfield has (or at least tries) to depict different universes.
Example (Spoiler for Starfield):
spoiler
The Constelation is different each time you run a New Game +
You meet the non-starborn version of yourself. You can convince yourself to join your crew, and thus you mentor yourself. All other Constellation members are missing/dont exist.
Same as Above but all the other members are alive and well.
Multiple version of yourself hang out at Constellation, like a sort of Citadel in Rick and Morty
Andreja has gone evil, has taken over the Lodge, and wants to take down Constellation.
Walter Stroud is not benevolent with his money but instead uses it to control Constellation and sells you the artifacts for 100k each.
You meet the Hunter who has already killed all of Constellation. He gives you the artifacts.
Cora Coe has returned as a Starborn and wants to avenge her father's death.
Evil You is there trying to kill everyone, a wounded Sarah fills you in.
Only kids are at Constellation, all the members are gone and there are kids in their place.
Another kid one where all the members are retired and slight changes to the one above.
Everyone is dead and only Vasco remains.
It is pretty innovative I think, although it could have been better executed.
How is ng+ innovative? Have you played many other games this year? Dave the diver, boneraiser Minions or Astrea have shown me more innovation in gameplay than any AAA game in years.
You have the option to get reincarnated at the end of the story. It starts you off with a neat ship and some nice gear, which gets a little better every time you restart. You keep all your powers, so you can re-run quests with opposite options to get whichever powers you missed. IIRC, it takes three or four playthroughs to actually get all the powers. It also gives you new dialogue options, which allow you to skip huge swaths of the story missions.
But it’s not anything super new or innovative. It’s new to Bethesda games but it’s not new.
The main story let's you choose if you want to become starborn so you can basically go to a new universe get a cool ship and armor and keep your stats. Each time you have a chance that the universe is different in some ways