The Game Awards: The Revelation of the Year’s Best Games
This morning, the annual Game Awards ceremony came to a successful conclusion.
First and foremost, congratulations to Elden Ring for winning the Best Game of the Year at TGA 2022! Truly deserved!
A noteworthy incident occurred during the ceremony when a “red shadow intrusion” forced a premature end. When the awarding process was nearing its conclusion, a figure suddenly appeared behind Hidetaka Miyazaki, mumbling into the microphone, before being promptly removed from the stage. The culprit has been apprehended.
The amusing part is that no one knows who this figure is.
From the on-site situation, the old master thought he was a TGA staff member, while host Jeff believed he was from FromSoftware, so no one interrupted him. In the end, everyone was fooled.
Today’s piece will be divided into two parts, discussing the Game Awards.
Firstly, I will briefly summarize the winners from each category and introduce some games that are worth looking forward to.
In reality, everyone has an idea of which game will win, as the awards are mainly for entertainment.
The true enjoyment lies in the grandiose promises made by game developers, the creation of new folders, and the anticipation of what new games will be released in the upcoming 2023.
Firstly, the esports category. This year, the award in this category was dominated by Valoren, covering games, teams, players, and coaches. Only the Best Esports Event was awarded to the 2022 League of Legends World Championship. This result is to be expected, as Valoren has steadily risen from its low start. With solid game quality and a continuous rise in popularity over the past two years, especially this year, it has overtaken the elder brother, League of Legends.
Its stable operation and unreasonable FPS anti-cheat design makes it one of the best esports of the year, at least without being ashamed of the title. Riot has won big.
Next is the grand winner, God of War 5. As the strongest competitor for the Best Game of the Year, Kratos did not win the main prize, but he won in the Best Performance, Narrative, Sound, Music, Accessibility, and Action Adventure categories. Although God of War 5 received some backlash from players upon release, I believe it is still a good game. The issue may lie in the lack of innovation and rushed development, shortening the Nordic myth trilogy into two parts, causing the pacing to be rushed and leaving people unprepared. Nevertheless, God of War 5 remains a representative work of modern game industry, even if it is pitted against Elden Ring.
The two awards that I am particularly excited about are Best Independent Game and Best Adaptation. The winners of these categories are Cat Game’s Lost, and the well-known The City of Lost Children. Cat’s theme is clever, and its small size is engaging, but unfortunately, other nominated games are equally good, making the lack of a win feel a bit disappointing. As for which game will win between The City of Lost Children and The City of Lost Children, the former has exploded in recent popularity, while the latter is stunning, deserving of an Oscar. Both are excellent works, and I do not rank them in order of preference, but I still congratulate The City of Lost Children! Truly deserved.
Finally, it is Elden Ring. In fact, it is a foregone conclusion that Elden Ring will win, with advantages in innovation, playability, and popularity. There is no need for further elaboration. It is worth mentioning that it also won the Best Art Direction award, indicating that Elden Ring’s architecture and artistry have made a significant contribution. It is well worth taking the time to appreciate.
Additionally, there is a funny incident this year: the introduction of the “Voice of the Player” award, which relies on online player voting. Therefore, Sega’s official side came out to vote for Sony, resulting in a landslide victory for Sega, which led to a public spat between Chinese and Japanese fans of Genshin Impact, with the former supporting Genshin Impact, and the latter supporting their own game. The result is Sonic the Hedgehog, which is quite fitting.
During the ceremony, host Jeff specifically emphasized that “robot votes were removed when counting,” and as a result, Genshin Impact won.