The Game Awards (TGA) announced this year’s nominees for their yearly award show two weeks ago. Categories for this show include ones such as best narrative, best fighting game, best music score, and of course Game Of The Year (GOTY). This year’s nominees were mostly expected, with one unexpected contestant. Let’s talk about what these nominees are and what each has going for them.
First up we have the game Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment), released on Friday October 27th, is the sequel to Alan Wake. In the game we follow the best selling author Alan Wake who is trapped in another dimension for 13 years, and he tries to escape by writing a horror story. This game is unique and is quite an experience for most people. It was also nominated for best score and music, best art direction, best audio design, best action/adventure, and best game direction.
The second game announced is Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios), released on August 3rd, is basically a standalone game, with an amazing narrative, beautiful graphics, incredibly in depth customization, and an outstanding player community. It is an emotional journey, and every choice you make changes the story. It was also nominated for best multiplayer game, best score and music, best roleplaying game, best narrative, best community support, and best game direction.
The next game is Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games). It came out on Oct 20th. If you haven’t heard of Spiderman, then you definitely did not pay attention to pop culture this year in particular. But the basic gist is that he has superhuman strength, can stick to walls, shoot webs, and can sense danger before it happens. The game takes place around 10 months after the previous game, Miles Morales, and has improved web slinging, combat, and suits. It was also nominated for best narrative, best audio design, best action/adventure game, and best game direction.
The fourth game is Resident Evil 4 Remake (Capcom). Released on March 24th. This game focuses on US agent Leon S. Kennedy, who is sent on a mission in rural Spain to save Ashley Graham, the president’s daughter, from a mysterious cult. The game took a bunch of the previous mechanics, fine tuned them, then added some completely new ones. A lot of the dialogue was also changed to make the game fit the more serious tone that the series is known for. It was also nominated for best audio design and best action/adventure game.
Next we have a nominee that is quite unexpected, Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo). The reason this is unexpected is not that it’s a bad game, it was just released very recently and without much warning, (Oct 20, unlike Spider-Man 2, it wasn’t as anticipated or as big as it). This game is a Mario platformer like the original games, but it’s kind of like a lucid dream. One level has piranha plants singing in a synchronized parade as you run and jump to avoid them. The game has also been nominated for best multiplayer game, best family game, best art direction, and best game direction.
The final nominee is unsurprisingly Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo). It was released on May 12, 2023. The game is a huge open world game, where you play as Link (not Zelda, that’s the princess). The game does combat really well and also makes you think about how your weapons will interact with the environment. It was also nominated for best game direction, best art direction, best score and music, and best action/adventure.
Be sure to vote for your favorite game’s here at The Game Awards nominees, you do need to make an account before you vote. The show itself will be streamed on Twitch on Dec 7 at 7:30 pm ET. This show also gives well known studios a chance to announce their new games, normally being sequels for already beloved games. For example, last year two of the games announced were Hades 2 (Supergiant Games) and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 (Saber Interactive). You should watch the awards, as your next favorite game could be announced.