The Game Awards noms: The good, the bad, the WTF | Kaser Focus

I think 2022 was a good year for games — I’ve had fun, anyway. But you wouldn’t get that impression from the Game of the Year nominations put forth by The Game Awards this year. In 2021, we had It Takes Two, Psychonauts 2, Metroid Dread and Rift Apart among others. This year, it’s basically going to come down to a battle between Elden Ring and God of War Ragnarök. Poor Horizon: Forbidden West is the lone dark horse.

As for the others, I’m not so impressed. As much as I loved Stray — and I did love it; I gave it a 4.5, for kitty’s sake — it’s not GOTY material. It was excellent at what it was trying to be, but it wasn’t trying to be much. I’m more surprised Tunic was left out. I guess the grand question of what gamers are soft for — Soulslikes or cute cats — has finally been answered. Also, the inclusion of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 feels like a weird fluke. As for A Plague Tale: Requiem… I liked it, but it was way too long for my tastes.

Of course, nothing feels as bizarre to me as seeing Half-Mermaid’s Immortality get nominations, including for best direction and narrative. I’m a party of one, apparently, but I despised that game. Ironically, the one category I would have nominated it for (had you put a gun to my head) was best audio design, for which it was not nominated. I’m also not sure why Sifu is nominated for Best Fighting Game when it’s an action game. And do we really need a “most anticipated” award? We get it — everyone wants to play Tears of the Kingdom. It doesn’t need more recognition.

Okay, enough of me being a sourpuss. We all know The Game Awards are going to be primarily about the trailers, and I look forward to watching those with all of you. In the meantime, I’m playing some Pentiment, which I’ve been looking forward to for quite some time. I may play with some Pokémon, if there’s time. You know me: Murder mysteries first!

What to play this week

What’s new:

• Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
• Pentiment
• Goat Simulator 3
• Somerville
• The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me
• Lapin
• Terracotta
• Bravery and Greed
• Ballads of Hongye
• Frozen Flame

New on subscription services:

• Dune: Spice Wars (Xbox Game Pass)
• Ghostlore (Xbox Game Pass)
• Norco (Xbox Game Pass)
• Dead End Job (Xbox Games with Gold)
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Special Edition (PlayStation Plus)
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (PlayStation Plus Extra+Premium)
• Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX (PlayStation Plus Extra+Premium)
• Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue (PlayStation Plus Extra+Premium)
• Kingdom Hearts III (PlayStation Plus Extra+Premium)
• Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory (PlayStation Plus Extra+Premium)
• Oddworld: Soulstorm – Enhanced Edition (PlayStation Plus Extra+Premium)
• Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 (PlayStation Plus Extra+Premium)
• Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint (PlayStation Plus Extra+Premium)
• Chorus (PlayStation Plus Extra+Premium)
• What Remains of Edith Finch (PlayStation Plus Extra+Premium)
• The Gardens Between (PlayStation Plus Extra+Premium)
• Earth Defense Force: World Brothers (PlayStation Plus Extra+Premium)
• Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain (PlayStation Plus Extra+Premium)
• Onee Chanbara Origin (PlayStation Plus Extra+Premium)
• Ratchet & Clank (PlayStation Plus Premium)
• Ratchet & Clank 2: Going Commando (PlayStation Plus Premium)
• Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal (PlayStation Plus Premium)
• Ratchet & Clank: Deadlocked (PlayStation Plus Premium)
• Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (PlayStation Plus Premium)
• Nobody – The Turnaround (GeForce Now)
• Warhammer 40,000: Darktide (GeForce Now)
• Caveblazers (GeForce Now)
• The Darkest Tales (GeForce Now)
• The Tenants (GeForce Now)
• Old Man’s Journey+ (Apple Arcade)