Game Awards Discussion again!

    Hey friends, the Game Awards nominees just came out last week, so I think it's about time to discuss my thoughts again. As I say every year, these awards don't really mean anything, so the "Fandom Wars" that surround these events is largely unfounded. Just because your favorite game doesn't win the top prize, it doesn't mean that whatever wins should objectively be your favorite. The entertainment media is built completely on subjectivity, so the idea of there being an objective truth in this manner is silly, but it is a fun time. This shouldn't be too long of a post, I just wanted to get my thoughts out there before the show airs on December 12. I hope you'll bear with me as I dust off my awards suit and prepare for the big night!

Gaming's Biggest Night That Doesn't Really Matter...

    I'll go ahead and address the elephant in the room right away. Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is nominated for Game of the Year, despite it being a DLC. Maybe it's just the fact that I've never been a huge fan of the whole "Soulsborne" subgenre of action games, but to me, this should absolutely not be here. Elden Ring won game of the year two years ago, and it just seems crazy that the same game is nominated again, but with some additional content added onto it. I have seen some arguments that say that it is more deserving of a nomination than Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was, but I just don't quite see that. Again, I'm kinda biased against it just because I don't care all that much about that style of game, but it's setting a precedent which they've never done, and I kind of doubt the DLC addition was enough to justify a whole new game. The other nominees are Astro Bot, Balatro, Black Myth: Wukong, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and Metaphor: Refantazio. It's hard for me to talk about this category, since I've only played two of these games really, but of the two that I've played, Astro Bot was definitely the one that I enjoyed the most. Final Fantasy was good, but there is so much padding in there, it just felt like a slog to play through. It's really a shame, because heading into this year, it was definitely a frontrunner for my favorite game of the year, but I actually still haven't gotten to the end yet. Astro Bot was just a joy to play all the way through, and even though it wasn't a very long game, it was an incredibly fun time. Balatro is a very fun and addictive game, from what I've heard, but I just haven't had a chance to play it for myself yet. Metaphor: Refantazio is basically another Persona game in a different setting, which looks awesome, but I also haven't played that one past the demo that they put out just before the game released. I'm looking forward to playing once I pick it up, but I'm also still working on Persona 3: Reload which wasn't nominated for anything.

    Best Narrative is always a really interesting category to me, and I was really happy that Alan Wake 2 won it last year, along with several other awards. This year, we have in my opinion a pretty clear front runner in Hellblade II: Senua's Saga. I haven't played any of the other games to the end yet, being Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Metaphor: Refantasio, Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, and Silent Hill 2, but after playing Hellblade II a few months ago, I have a hard time imagining a game with a more impactful and thought provoking storyline. I think Hellblade is most deserving of Games For Impact as well, I think, as an interesting insight into someone's neurodivergent mind. Senua in the first game is dealing with her psychosis in a very personal way, and the sequel takes her more into the real world to face real threats, while still dealing with the darkness of her past. It's just a beautiful story, though one that is very difficult to come to terms with. Best Art Direction is a pretty simple decision to me, since I feel like Neva is the only nominee with a really interesting art style here. Nomada Studio just knows how to make playable watercolor paintings that look wonderful, and Neva yet again hits the mark that Gris did a few years ago.

    Best Score and Music is one category that I think I would be happy with no matter who wins it. The nominees are Astro Bot, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Metaphor: Refantazio, Silent Hill 2, and Stellar Blade. I can't speak for Silent Hill 2, because I haven't even touched that game yet, but the rest of these five nominees have absolutely killer soundtracks. This is one category that I may be rooting for Final Fantasy, but truly all of these I would be very happy with, despite how completely different they are. Audio Design absolutely has to go to Senua's Saga in my opinion.  The way the Hellblade series has voices whispering from all around you, and how the game recommends you play with headphones just make this untouchable in my eyes. Astro Bot has some really solid and fun audio design, especially with how it plays with the Dualsense's speakers, but I think horror games like Silent Hill or Hellblade are really what this category is made for. I don't think Black Ops 6 deserves to be in the category at all, but maybe they did a good job with it, I haven't played it. I really think the actress for Senua in Hellblade II deserves the award for best performance, Melina Juergens. Briana White also did a fantastic job as Aerith in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and truly I'm sure all of these performances were great, but I can't speak for all of them, since I haven't played the other three games that were nominated. 

    I don't want to sit around and overwhelm everyone with my opinions ad nauseam, so I won't make this much longer, but I would love for Animal Well to get some love in one of the two categories that it's nominated for. I'm interested to check out Balatro for sure, since it's always nice to have an indie game nominated for Game of the Year, but I just thought Animal Well was a really cool and unique time, and I would love to have Big Mode and Billy Basso win something for their efforts. I don't know if the Marvel Vs. Capcom collection should really count as a fighting game, since it consists of 6 older games, but that's absolutely what I want to win. Those games are just so good and classic, it's really hard to beat.

    I really hope we'll get some good news to come out of the Game Awards this year, but we'll just have to wait and see what gets revealed! Sadly Nintendo doesn't normally unveil any new projects at this kind of event, but we'll have to see. They did announce Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon during this one year, after all. I hope what we get is a night of fun and good times across the whole games community, no matter what you're a fan of. I always talk about this, so I must end by bringing up this point again. Please stay civil, and we'll all have a much better time, friends!

    Thanks so much for reading my thoughts about the Game Awards, friends. I know this is much more rambly than I meant for it to be, but I hope you found some sort of entertainment or more knowledge towards these awards. I truly hope that your favorite games will win something, but if not, just remember that it's truly just for fun, and it's an honor to even be nominated, I would think. I hope you'll have a great week, and thanks again for all of your support. Until next time, I'm Jonathan, a Self-Proclaimed award show critic, and I'll talk to you again soon!