Let's give thanks for The Game Awards! (TGA Nomination thoughts)

     Well, another year has nearly come and gone, which means that Game Awards speculation season is upon us yet again. I am always happy to think about all of the great games that have come out every year, even though I don't super care about the awards themselves. If nothing else, we get a lot of interesting game announcements here, and last year, we even got the announcement of Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon there, so maybe Nintendo will announce something else interesting this year! Without further ado, let's launch into a discussion here about what did and didn't get nominated for this pretty great year of gaming.

Another celebration of the industry!

    I'm going to get to the big awards right away, the first being Game of the Year, of course. Alan Wake 2, Baldur's Gate 3, Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Resident Evil 4 Remake, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom are all of the games nominated for the top award. Right off the bat, I want to bring up the most glaring omission here, there's not a nomination for Starfield. I have to say that I'm not incredibly surprised, based on the lukewarm response to the game upon arrival, but it's still kind of wild to think about. The devs at Bethesda worked on this game for so long, which was rumored for a long time before it was ever really talked about, but I think they may have bit off more than they could chew and weren't able to live up to the lofty expectations that they set with all of the marketing material.The only thing that that game is nominated for is best RPG, which I don't think it will win either, against Final Fantasy XVI, Baldur's Gate, and Sea of Stars. Of these games that have been nominated, I've played all except for Alan Wake 2 and Baldur's Gate 3, and I am actually really happy with all of these nominations here. I don't think Super Mario Bros. Wonder will get it, but it was a great game. I think the best chances go to Legend of Zelda and Baldur's Gate, but of course, it's a personal decision that everyone has to make on their own, no matter what game the award goes to. Resident Evil 4 Remake was tons of fun, but I'm sure people have strong opinions on a remake like that being nominated here, but really, this is a new game based on that older release. 

    It should be said that a lot of the categories every year are very hard to define from the outside looking in. For instance, I don't know how I can choose "Best Game Direction," although they're speaking in terms of innovation. The games here all seem to have really cool ideas implemented in them, though again, I haven't played Alan Wake 2 or Baldur's Gate 3. Super Mario Bros. Wonder was so cool in the implementation of the Wonder Flower in every single level, so I think it has a really great shot at winning this one. Of course, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has a really impressive set of tools that they put into the world, even with the basic map being largely the same. The fact that the sky and the underground area have their own sets of rules also add something really interesting to the direction of the game as a whole. Marvel's Spider-Man 2 was a fantastic game, but in terms of new direction, it was very similar to the previous games, just making the things a bit more streamlined. Based on what I've read and heard about Alan Wake 2, I think the "Blackboard" mechanic sounds really cool, though I still don't know enough to really talk about it.

    The Best Art Direction category is also interesting, and the frontrunners here I think are Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Hi-Fi Rush. I can't even express how good the animation looks in the latter game, where it actually looks like a Saturday morning cartoon, and the same goes for the awesome sync between the gameplay and the music, which the landscape also follows. Super Mario Bros. Wonder, as I said before, always has something different happening, and often times, there are flashy and amazing effects that happen along with whatever gameplay mechanic arrives. Lies of P is also in there, which is a beautiful game, and the subtle Pinocchio allusions make me really happy, despite the obviously heavy Bloodborne references.

    Now, obviously, I can't talk about all of these categories or we'll be here all day. One of the oddest nominations is Cyberpunk 2077 for "Ongoing games," since it isn't really an ongoing game, it just recently had an update and a DLC that came out. Games for Impact all look fantastic, though my pick is definitely Terra Nil, a really neat game about reclaiming a planet that's been ruined by centuries of colonization (which I've written about before). I'm really torn on Best Indie game, as Cocoon, Sea of Stars, and Viewfinder all are really cool, as well as Dredge and Dave the Diver, which I've heard really good things about from some of my friends. Best Strategy/Sim game would have to be Pikmin 4 for my money, if for no other reason than to have more eyes on that fantastic game. Fire Emblem Engage sadly let the fans down based on what I've heard, my brother liked it while he was playing it, but he has just had no desire to go back. He liked some of the other games much better, despite the emphasis on fan service in this one. I am genuinely happy that Star Wars: Jedi Survivor got a few nominations, I don't know if it will get anything, but I thought that game was a lot of fun! Lots of interesting ideas, maybe a little undercooked, but overall it was a really fun time. The Best RPG award should have included the remake of Super Mario RPG, but the game unfortunately missed the cut off by just a few weeks, which means that there's the possibility of getting the remake of Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door against it next year at the game awards. That would be pretty awesome, though I'm not sure if RPG would be able to hold up against the more recent game.

    I'm always so excited to see the Game Awards, it's not the most exciting time as the marketing would have you believe, but I really enjoy it. It's especially a good time when watching with friends, which I'm definitely planning on doing on December 7th. It's always nice to see what the industry professionals, as well as random fans of games like myself think about the games to come out every year. If nothing else, the Game of the Year orchestra performance is fantastic, and it's always nice to see the game reveals that happen here as well. I hope that the Muppets and Reggie Fils-Aime will be presenting awards again this year!

    Thanks so much for reading this little thought post about the Game Awards, friends! Are you excited for the show? What would be your game of the year this year? Even if it's not nominated, of course! Was there anything that you felt was unfairly snubbed for this show? I have to say that I wish that Theatrhythm Final Bar Line was nominated for something. I loved that game so much, and even if it didn't get any award, I wish it was nominated. Thanks again for all of your support and I hope you have a great week and have had a Happy Thanksgiving! I'm Jonathan, your self-proclaimed award show enthusiast and I'll talk to you again soon!