For those of you who didn’t listen to the Game of the Year Awards postcast, or heard it and just wanted a visual recap of the nominees and winners, here is the complete ballot.
Best Game of the Year
Deathloop
Forza Horizon 5
Halo Infinite
Metroid Dread
Psychonauts 2
Worst Game of the Year
Balan Wonderworld
Battlefield 2042
eFootball 2022
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition
Madden NFL 22
Best PC Game
Forza Horizon 5
Guilty Gear -Strive-
Halo Infinite
Hitman 3
Psychonauts 2
Best PlayStation 5 Game
Deathloop
Guilty Gear -Strive-
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Returnal
Tales of Arise
Best Xbox Series S/X Game
Forza Horizon 5
Halo Infinite
It Takes Two
Psychonauts 2
Resident Evil Village
Best Switch Game
Death’s Door
Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights
Metroid Dread
Monster Hunter Rise
Shin Megami Tensei V
Best Remake/Remaster
Alan Wake Remastered
Diablo II: Resurrected
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles
Mass Effect Legendary Edition
Myst
Best Strategy
Age of Empires IV
Evil Genius 2: World Domination
Jurassic World Evolution 2
King’s Bounty II
Wildermyth
Best RPG
Fuga: Melodies of Steel
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous
Scarlet Nexus
Shin Megami Tensei V
Tales of Arise
Best FPS
Back 4 Blood
Deathloop
Halo Infinite
Lemmis Gate
World War Z: Aftermath
Best Action or Platform Game
Hitman 3
It Takes Two
Kena: Bridge of Spirits
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
Returnal
Best Sports Games
F1 2021
Football Manager 2022
Forza Horizon 5
MLB The Show 21
Out of the Park Baseball 22
Best Adventure Game
Bonfire Peaks
Gnosia
Life is Strange: True Colors
Overboard!
Sherlock Holmes Chapter One
Best Fighting Game
Guilty Gear -Strive-
Melty Blood: Type Lumina
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl
Persona 5 Strikers
Samurai Gunn 2
Best Casual Game
The Artful Escape
Chicory: A Colorful Tale
Mario Party Superstars
Townscaper
Unpacking
Best Expansion
Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Happy Home Paradise
Disco Elysium: The Final Cut
Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker
Outer Wilds: Echoes of the Eye
Subnautica: Below Zero
Best VR Game
Demeo
I Expect You To Die 2: The Spy And The Liar
Resident Evil 4 VR
Subnautica: Below Zero VR
Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife
Best Graphics (Artistic)
The Artful Escape
Chicory: A Colorful Tale
Death’s Door
Fuga: Melodies of Steel
It Takes Two
Best Graphics (Technical)
Far Cry 6
Forza Horizon 5
Hitman 3
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Resident Evil Village
Best Voice Cast
Deathloop
Halo Infinite
It Takes Two
Psychonauts 2
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Best Voice Acting
Ozioma Akagha as Julianne Blake, Deathloop
Jack Black as Helmut Fullbear, Psychonauts 2
Erika Mori as Alex Chen, Life is Strange: True Colors
Maggie Robertson as Alcina Dimitrescu, Resident Evil Village
Jen Taylor as The Weapon/Cortana, Halo Infinite
Best Writing in an Action Game
Deathloop
Halo Infinite
It Takes Two
Psychonauts 2
Returnal
Best Writing in a Narrative Game
The Artful Escape
Fuga: Melodies of Steel
Life is Strange: True Colors
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
Sherlock Holmes Chapter One
Best Music
The Artful Escape
Deathloop
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
Narita Boy
Psychonauts 2
Best Song
“The Banks of the River Are Lined with Gold”, The Artful Escape
“City Lights / Ode to Somewhere”, Deathloop
“Cosmic I / Smell the Universe”, Psychonauts 2
Best Sound
Deathloop
Forza Horizon 5
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Resident Evil Village
Returnal
There has been many debates on the graphic level of Diablo 3 and how it should be different. Finally a developer comes out and says “um, no.” Their reasoning is fairly simple, it’s one thing to photoshop up a screenshot with some filters but it’s another to get the texture and lighting to run at that detail on a standard computer.
Square Enix, like many developers today, look to combine their efforts with like-minded individuals making video games for our industry. Recently they put out a bid to pickup Tecmo and expand their development archive to new heights by jumping into a few more genre’s without starting at the ground floor.