The Game Awards 2024

#videogames #thegameawards #thegameawards2024 #tga #tga2024

I needed something to publish to my blog this month, why not talk about The Game Awards?!? This was a big year for Geoff Keighley and his celebration of video games. Each year we watch it, and each year we joke about it, but honestly, it does keep getting better. There is measurable progress for the production, and in its 10th year now, I think they've mostly hit their stride.

Also, for the last few years my friends and I have played “The Game of The Game Awards” where we do a fantasy-style pick of all the games we think will win, and also came up with some wild predictions that may or may not have scored us any bonus points. I encourage you to check it out even if you've already watched the TGAs.

There were still rapid-fire and throw away awards given out, but the awards that did get the main stage I felt had meaningful acceptance speeches.

Every year there is room for at least one feel-good award. In the past that spot has generally been the lifetime achievement award or something to that effect. This year it was the “Game Changer” award. I legitimately almost started to cry, it was a really heart felt sizzle reel about Amir Satvat's life and what he's done for game industry folks who have been hit hard with all the layoffs. But then he gave his acceptance speech and it was obvious the the guy is pretty genuine. In a world where getting ahead and living comfortably means screwing other people over, it's an unfortunately rare treat to celebrate the more selfless ones among us.

BUT, that was only a few minutes out of an extremely bloated show. Clocking in at three and half hours, I'm surprised that I managed to make it through the entire presentation without skipping through shit... Well, I did step outside for a quick toke between the “Opening Act” and the show proper. And there were plenty of games that I could talk shit about or be negative on... Undoubtedly, the mainstream gaming enthusiast media will be talking about Intergalatic until at least the end of the year. Nerds will be analyzing the trailer and talking about all the Naughty Dog Easter eggs, and pontificating on what they think the game will be. Well, I can tell you exactly what it's going to be:

Intergalactic will be a third-person linear action game with semi-openworld areas that lasts about 15 hours on the average playthrough.

Those are the games that Naughty Dog makes, and I don't necessarily care for them, or play those games very much. I did enjoy Uncharted 4, though... So I'll reserve full judgement until I see more of the game, but I'm just not as interested in something like that, whereas most other people would probably call that their game of the show. I'm sure the I, Robot (2004) style product placement discussion will eventually subside as more details and gameplay emerge.

And really the awards take a back seat to all of the adverts and announcements, and I'm not mad about it. It's a nice Winter showcase for everything that's out and everything that is coming out. So, with that in mind, here are my top 5 adverts of The Game Awards 2024.

5. Steel Hunters

Wargaming looks like it's going to out-Titanfall Respawn with this awesome new mecha title that combines elements of Gundam and Zoids to create something entirely new... Thankfully it does not have a “World of” prefix, so it's possible that it won't be a pay-to-win sink hole of microtransactions... but I'm not going to get my hopes up until it actually releases, or we get to see more of the game. One would expect it to be free-to-play, so if that is the case, it's at least worth a download and a couple hours of my time.

4. Project Century

It was kind of a shocker to see that Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio is working on a new Virtua Fighter game, and I'm eager to see what that is going to be like. However, this trailer was definitely the highlight. I imagine this is probably going to be very similar to their Yakuza (Like a Dragon) and Judgement (Judge Eyes) games. Nevertheless it looks like a pretty healthy evolution of their brand of semi-openworld beat-em-ups. Generally speaking their combat systems are both worthy of mastery but also serviceable for button-mashing because they usually also deliver engaging stories as well.

3. Turok Origins

There were whispers and rumors that Turok could make a return after NightDive snatched up the rights to resurrect and publish the retro titles (the ones most people remember playing on the N64). There was a 2008 game, but I don't think anyone remembers it fondly, if at all. This is intriguing since the game is going from first to third person, and there appears to be possibly some asymmetrical multiplayer, or co-op elements to the game as well. A pleasant surprise that I'm eager to see more of in the near future.

2. Dispatch

With former TellTale developers working on this, it looks to be just another dialog driven narrative adventure game, but potentially far more animated and engaging than The Wolf Among Us or The Walking Dead. Also, I'm happy to see a game essentially embracing a very 2D-inspired comic and/or cartoon art aesthetic. Games like this are a nice break from the plethora of titles out there that strive for photo realistic graphics.

1. The Outer Worlds 2

For anyone that knows me, it is no surprise that this would be my personal highlight of the show. I've been anticipating this game for a while now. I think it's just more of the same, but also slightly longer. They've also been leaning much more heavily into the campiness—at least for the trailers. But I hope that it is also more pronounced in the final game as well. There were moments throughout the first game which sort of hinted at satirically comedic elements, but it never fully realized that aspect, opting to rely more on the retro/atomic sci-fi elements of the game, and it took itself more seriously than it needed to at times. If they go full Cable Guy style dark humor, then I'm all for it.

Honourable Mentions

Okami Sequel is definitely something that I didn't see coming. I imagine it'll be more of the same, a Zelda-like with an art aesthetic reminiscent of impressionist paintings. I'm sure it'll be full of clever atmospheric puzzles as well, and will be a very rewarding game to play through.

The Warframe 1999 update/content release. It's amazing to me that this f2p game has lasted for over twelve years. I've played it before, but never got heavily interested in the game. An update like this is enough reason for me to download it again and check out what they've been working on.

Witcher IV looks pretty fucking awesome... Well, that trailer was really cool. IMHO all of the Witcher games have been riddled with bugs and are janky as fuck. The last entry was VERY close to being a good game for me, but the lack of feedback in combat was a deal breaker. I never felt engaged enough to spend time learning all of the magic and potions. CDPR has shown with Cyberpunk 2077 though that they can do good combat (albeit of the FPS variety), so Witcher IV not a total write-off for me. Also, it's still early days... If nothing else Witcher IV be worth playing when they release the GOTY “next gen” updated version in 2032.