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0 It’s that time of year again. Time to roll out Geoff Keighley and crown the unofficially official best game of the year at the biggest advertising/awards show, The Game Awards. Although open to genuine criticism for how it’s run, I really do enjoy the show each year. It presents an opportunity for me, at least, to get together with friends and celebrate another year of games, and get excited for the next. For 2024 we now have the all important list of nominees, let’s take a look at some of the highlights and controversies.
Geoff Keighley’s Pre-Christmas Friend Fest 2024
I don’t think there’s much surprise in the bigger categories, as usual. The games vying for the biggest awards are the games that reviewed best overall throughout the year. However, in what is a first for The Game Awards, a DLC has been nominated for Game of the Year. Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is the first expansion content to be nominated for the highest award at the show, and is in fact nominated in another 3 categories besides. In total, 14 games share the nominations in the 7 biggest and most widely applicable categories.
| Game of the Year | Best Game Direction | Best Art Direction | ||
| Astro Bot | Astro Bot | Astro Bot | ||
| Balatro | Balatro | Black Myth: Wukong | ||
| Black Myth: Wukong | Black Myth: Wukong | Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree | ||
| Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree | Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree | Metaphor: ReFantazio | ||
| Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth | Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth | Neva | ||
| Metaphor: ReFantazio | Metaphor: ReFantazio |
| Best Narrative | Best Sound and Music | Best Audio Design | ||
| Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth | Astro Bot | Astro Bot | ||
| Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth | Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth | Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 | ||
| Metaphor: ReFantazio | Metaphor: ReFantazio | Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth | ||
| Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II | Silent Hill 2 | Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II | ||
| Silent Hill 2 | Stellar Blade | Silent Hill 2 |
| Best Performance |
| Briana White as Aerith Gainsborough in Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth |
| Hannah Telle as Max Caufield in Life is Strange: Double Exposure |
| Humberly González as Kay Voss in Star Wars: Outlaws |
| Luke Roberts as James Sunderland in Silent Hill 2 |
| Melina Juergens as Senua in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II |
Independently Awesome
Over in the Indie Game Awards, it’s nice to see Lorelei and the Laser Eyes nominated for Best Independent Game. One glaring omission from these categories is 1000xRESIST. While I’ve not got around to playing it myself yet, I’ve seen several trustworthy people sing its praises very highly. The nominations here have as usual highlighted just how few games I’m able to play in a year compared to how many I want to. Of the 13 games below, I’ve played 1 of the 8 that I really wanted to get to. Alongside the 2 dedicated Indie awards. I’m also highlighting the Games for Impact award here, as more often than not Indie titles are the ones exploring more nuanced topics.
| Best Independent Game | Best Debut Indie Game | Games for Impact | ||
| Animal Well | Animal Well | Closer the Distance | ||
| Balatro | Balatro | Indika | ||
| Lorelei and the Laser Eyes | Manor Lords | Neva | ||
| Neva | Pacific Drive | Life is Strange: Double Exposure | ||
| UFO 50 | The Plucky Squire | Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II | ||
| Tales of Kenzera: Zau |
A Taste Of What’s To Come
Finally, let’s take a look at the nominees for the Most Anticipated Game. The description for the award says that this is for “recognizing an announced game that has demonstrably illustrated potential to push the gaming medium forward”. While I have no doubts at all that all the games listed here will be amazing, we’ve not seen enough of Ghost of Yotei or GTAVI yet to say they’ve demonstrated anything. I always find the descriptions of the awards to be strange. Anyway, Hollow Knight: Silksong is snubbed here because it’s obviously shadow-dropping during the award show. It’s the only explanation.
| Most Anticipated Game |
| Death Stranding 2: On The Beach |
| Ghost of Yotei |
| Grand Theft Auto VI |
| Metroid Prime 4: Beyond |
| Monster Hunter Wilds |
There are several more categories for you to discover and vote for over at The Game Awards 2024 website. The Player’s Voice Round 1 voting opens on December 2nd if you’re interested in participating in that. We’ll be back in December to bring you a rundown of the winners and, of course, all the World Premiere announcements from the show. See you then.
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