The glitz, the glamour and the games! Yes it's the 2024 edition of The Games Played Last Year Awards! The GPLYA's as I will continue to call them even though it doesn't commit itself to the memory at all. It's that special time of year (the start of it) where I come together with myself (phrasing) to pick out the highlights and otherwise of the past twelve months of my gaming habit. Here I single out the very most notable of my gaming experiences of 2023.
I've brought back most of the awards from last year's ceremony with a minimum of tweaks plus a few newbies to go around. Which games will win these prestigious and not at all fictional awards? What did I enjoy? What did I not enjoy? What is the point of it all? Stamp your ticket, take your seat and read on to find out...
The Game Most Surprisingly Bad 'Award'
It actually wasn't a busy year for bad games for me. I feel like 2022 had more sub-par experiences on the whole. But they weren't completely absent from 2023 oh no. Now this is a relative judgement and I think the worst game of 2022 was still a worse game than this years winner. It's a harsh verdict to be sure but a fair one nonetheless. For this year's 'winner' is Arcade Spirits, not for being egregiously bad per se but rather because it felt a little bland for me, a little too flat even by the standards of visual novels. A bright aesthetic and a decent soundtrack alas does not save it from being out first recipient tonight.
The Game Most Unexpectedly Good Award
On the flip side of this coin is the game that wins you over despite your preconceptions. Whether it be due to bad press, a glitchy launch or just something about it just rubbing you up the wrong way upon first loading it up, this is the game that most surprised me by turning out to be pretty damn good in the final assessment. This award proudly goes to Cloudpunk for upending my expectations and giving me one of my best game experiences of 2023. As I mentioned in my end of year round-up, I don't associate retro aesthetics with solid gameplay as I feel they don't always come together. Here though they did, a cyberpunk world beautifully realized in blocks, accompanied by a great look and feel to the whole thing. A well deserved honour I think!
The Game That Eats Time 'Award'
It's another one of those quote unquote awards as we recognize the game that took up far too much of my time last year. This isn't necessarily a negative but I rarely find it to be a positive either. As I've remarked before around these here parts, modern game design seems to be fixated around busywork and engagement which leads to games being far longer experiences without them being any deeper. This is ultimately an award that recognizes that a game can be either good or bad but takes far too long to get where it's going. This year that award goes to Assassin's Creed: Odyssey for its untiring commitment to commitment. It certainly wasn't a bad game but it is far too much of a grind for its own good.
The Game Over Too Soon Award
From games that overstay their welcome to games that don't hang around for as long as you'd like them to. In an era where games are chock full of content and then some, it's a rarity to find that game that finishes up whilst the going is still good. Just to be clear, where this does happen it is indeed a very good thing and is much preferred to the alternative. This award goes to Stories Untold, the first part of my No Code double bill in 2023. I'm not doing runners up for these awards (apart from the last one) but if I did then Observation would be a close second here for sure. The first game just sneaks past the finishing line as a fine example of well paced storytelling with a sharp focus that serves it well. With a deft touch and a nifty approach to videogame horror, this game really impressed me.
Most Dysfunctional Protagonist Award
In all honesty there weren't too many of these in the last year. The protagonists were slackers like in 2064: Read Only Memories or angsty super powered types like In Beyond: Two Souls. The protagonist of WATCH_DOGS was kinda dull and the protagonist of Doom Eternal was fuelled by pure rage and little else. There really can only be one winner here and that goes to the lead of Disco Elysium: The Final Cut. When you are so screwed on the head that the game has to split up the various parts of the human psyche and give them each their own voice, this is an early indication that all is not well in their head. It made the game compelling though so there is that and it all pays off by the end. Truly Disco Elysium could be said to be more dysfunctional than dystopian but there's plenty of that too.
The Game Is Melting My Brain Award for Difficulty
Now you may get the idea from some of my ramblings around these here parts that I'm not high on high difficulty in my games. There is a grain of truth there but really I generally think it's more about ensuring that the reward is proportionate to the challenge. That time is not wasted just for it's own sake, that the in-game systems are well designed and not overly punitive just because games back in the day could be fiendishly difficult. There are indeed times when you can justify a difficulty curve that is nigh on vertical. Such is the case with Darkest Dungeon, a game that was absurdly difficult to say the least. Ultimately it was a game I did not finish and have no intention of finishing but I can appreciate it for what it was. A well designed generator of frustration it may be, but well designed it surely is. Also a great comic book style aesthetic with Lovecraftian overtones generates a lot of goodwill with yours truly.
Most Patriotic Game Award
Much like our award for dysfunctional protagonists I fear there's not too many candidates for this one. 'Why this is nothing but a scam!' I hear you cry, to which I can only knowingly tap my nose in response. I mean Guacamelee! 2 was fairly proud of the culture it borrowed from but I'm not sure I would call it patriotic as such. Tekken 7 is deeply steeped in something recognisably Japanese but again I don't see anyone waving the flag there either. No there can only be one winner here and that is Metal Wolf XD for it's soaring tribute to that most American of qualities, namely kicking ass. I'm not American myself you understand so I can't speak as to the cultural nuances offered here but I for one felt inspired by it's devotion to duty, it's soaring call to arms, it's rendition of Presidential duty as deployed in an over-sized over-armed mech suit. God bless America!
The Feast For The Senses Award
An award that recognises excellence in game presentation. Where everything looks, sounds and feels good, if it happens to play well then that's a nice bonus too but is not necessarily required for his award. The aforementioned Cloudpunk scored some points on this front, as did Hyper Light Drifter and the Uncharted Legacy of Thieves Collection. But there was one standout in 2023 that must have the nod here and that is Mortal Kombat 1 as it is presented on PS5. This was an extremely beautiful game to look at even when what you were looking at was mostly decapitations and disembowelment. Liu Kang, Scorpion and Sub-Zero have never looked so well rendered as they are here. The look, the sound and the feel we're all on point. The game itself I had some reservations about but yeah, aesthetically this was a home run.
The Most Random Game I Played Last Year Award
When you have a to-play list of games and an unending sense that you haven't played enough of those games as I have, then there is a tendency to checklist your way through them and not really take the time to enjoy the whole gaming thing. To help prevent this from occurring I make a habit of picking out games at random to surprise myself a little and keep things interesting. These may be games I have little to no prior knowledge of, games I may have had for ages or games I may have purchased mere minutes ago. Sometimes it just doesn't work and you find yourself playing a dud. Then there's Burly Men At Sea, a charmingly presented tale of some fisherman as they embark on a surreal adventure across the sea. It is by turn, idiosyncratic, funny and endearing with regular diversions into the weird and strange. I really enjoyed this one.
The Death Metal Award
Another highly legitimate award here that was not the least bit contrived. Yes new this year is the Death Metal award for being metal as... well you know. I try to keep it rated PG around here but sometimes you must pay tribute to those games which go all-out with highly anti-social violent behaviour. If said behaviour is packaged in a game that looks like an 80's hair metal album cover then all the better. Yes only one game could have won this award in 2023 and that game is Doom Eternal for it's unwavering commitment to being hardcore as all heck. The entire game is a non-stop marathon of carnage and destruction and everything appears to be on fire. The people, the enemies, the planet Earth, also yourself. Ultraviolence is rarely this fun!
The Deja Vu 'Award'
This award recognises when a game is not just familiar but a bit too overly familiar. Like you have played this game before under a different name or presentation perhaps. You often get awards that champion innovation and original thinking in game design, this is the opposite of that. This doesn't mean the game is bad but it perhaps means that such games don't reach the heights they could. For this 'award' we recognise Hard Reset Redux for it's steadfast commitment to going with what you know and feel comfortable with. Yes this game doesn't do out of the box thinking but within that box it's actually a really solid first person shooter in a grim dystopian sci-fi setting. So yes you may have played games like this before and if you like that sort of thing then here is more of it.
Best Backstory Award
I love a good backstory, not every game gets one and not every game needs one but when they do and it's done right, it's good stuff. On its own it can help with a lot of the heavy lifting required around tone and mood. It can get the imagination fired up and instil some real enthusiasm for a game long before you've even started it up. Couple of candidates came to mind here for their varying degrees of success here. Darkest Dungeon gives a lot whilst leaving enough blanks to fill in yourself, NieR Replicant has some of that too but is less successful at imparting it to the gamer and Hyper Light Drifter leaves a whole lot of things up in the air with it's backstory. There can only be one standout winner here however and that is Sunless Sea and the Fallen London storyverse it belongs to. Part steampunk, part Lovecraft, part nautical adventure, all highly compelling. I wish the game itself was perhaps a little better but I'll be checking out the follow-up anyway on the strength of the world itself.
The.'Music To My Ears' Award For Best Soundtrack
I don't think it's a secret that I am a big soundtrack nerd. Whether it be film, game or TV, when the right piece of music plays at the right moment it hits me right in the head but in the good non-violent way I highly recommend over the alternative. Couple of games stood out on 2023 for their contribution to my ever growing Spotify playlist for favourite soundtracks. Hyper Light Drifter had a beautiful, desolate and haunting score, Cloudpunk had a solid Blade Rinner-esque soundtrack too. I feel there can only be one winner here alas and that is Paradise Killer for it's soundtrack composed by Epoch. This was a seriously good collection of music and the perfect accompaniment to the game itself. It's great music by itself and a vital part of the hazy sun-drenched city vibe of the game itself. Job well done!
The 'No Idea What's Going On Here' Award
An award that recognises when a game excels itself in sheer unadulterated bafflement. Whether it's by accident or design, some games leave you scratching your head at best and questioning everything you know at worst. Actually no that's wrong, at worst these kinda of games can make you wonder why you ever picked them up but that was not the case for this year's winner. No this year's winner was a decent game for the most part and in fairness to it, it does clarify most of the confusion by the end. Abrupt time jumps and a incongruent juxtaposition of the old and new did make for quite the first impression however. Our winner is NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139… for a game experience that was in no hurry to explain itself.
The 'Don't Get Too Attached' Award
Some shared territory with the difficulty award here as this sentiment usually goes hand in hand with it. An award for the very best of those games that allow you to invest just enough into it only to have your hopes and dreams crushed without warning. Games that strike a unique chord with their players, where it pays not to get too sentimental with everything you're building up and working towards. Darkest Dungeon was a close runner up here but due to that difficulty spike I felt I never got overly invested in it. No our winner wasn't quite that crushingly difficult, just difficult enough to hit the sweet spot required here. Our winner is XCOM 2 for reminding us that it's never too early or too late to lose your cherished squad members to that overpowered enemy you weren't expecting to show up yet. Commendations to the War of the Chosen content too for adding many finely designed complications to an already fraught experience.
The 'Neat' Award For Cool Game Concept
On the home stretch now with an award for those games that may or may not be the best game experiences but regardless have a real good idea or concept behind it all. The sort of outside the box thinking you didn't know you wanted until it was playing out in front of you. Our winner here is Hypnospace Outlaw because this was one really well formed idea to build a game around. Alternate history late 90's internet but accessed when asleep run by a shadowy company and full of eye sore web design and obnoxiously obtrusive multimedia. As a game it could be a touch unwieldy at times but otherwise the execution of the whole thing is really rather good.
The Overall Worst Game I Played Last Year 'Award'
I feel a little bad about this one. Not just because it's already won an 'award' here but more because it wasn't the most terrible experience I've had playing videogames, not by a long shot. Nonetheless it was the worst game I played in 2023 which I think speaks to just what a good year it was really for my game selection ability. This years 'winner' is Arcade Spirits for just feeling a little slow and flat as a narrative experience. Yes it's a visual novel and this comes with certain conventions and expectations but even within those I don't think it was particularly well written or played like a fun game either. It was colourful to look at and the soundtrack was alright but in a good year for my gaming habit this was the one that really made me wonder why I chose it.
The Unquestionably Best Game I Played Last Year Award
Now for the main event of this prestigious award allocation, we're going to do this a little differently this year because it was a pretty good year for my gaming habit. Let's do a top three.
Third place goes to a game that hit a lot of sweet spots for me. A game far from perfect but nailed the core experience with aplomb. I'm talking about big robots, mecha, bipedal tanks and not the bipedal yanks that autocorrect just tried to foist upon me. I'm talking about MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries. A game with a lot of nostalgia baked in for me due to fond memories of playing these games back in the ancient earth years of the early 2000's. The way it plays and feels is top notch with a real sense of scale and destruction to everything. The more hard sci-fi setting feels refreshingly different and the mecha themselves are things to behold as they blast away at the opposition.
Second place goes to a game I was not expecting to enjoy quite so much as I thought I would at the start. Don't get me wrong I like Star Wars to be sure but it's somewhere far behind Star Trek and Doctor Who in the league of sci-fi properties I enjoy. On the flip side Respawn Entertainment might just be my favourite developer making videogames right now. Apex Legends is great and Titanfall 2 really needs a Titanfall 3. They also did a bang-up job with our second place winner which is Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order which might be one of the best uses of Star Wars I have seen since that first season of The Mandalorian. A skill based semi-Souls-like game that really puts the emphasis on picking your moment wisely to strike or parry. Not an easy game but a tremendously rewarding one, looked amazing on PS5 too. Also that ending and the cameo therein was outstanding.
First place goes to the game I enjoyed the most in 2023. A game that stands alone in many ways, a game with a distinct feel and identity of it's own even in the crowded field of first person shooters. A game that dives in at the deep end except it's filled with nuclear powered sharks powered by steroids. Our winner here is Doom Eternal for being the best in full throttle high speed violence. A game that is pure controlled chaos, that constantly pushes the player to the limits of their tolerance only to leave them skimming that edge for a good deal longer than they might have thought possible. Shotguns sound like an act of God and flesh tears with glorious abandon. As I've said before Doom (2016) was a great game in its own right and a glorious surprise to boot. Doom Eternal builds on it in all the right ways. It is the new gold standard for making the old feel new again. Highly deserved!
That's a wrap folks, thanks to all our winners and 'winners' for their participation tonight. What an entirely credible awards ceremony this was. Games were recognized, accolades were bestowed, entirely unsolicited opinions were provided. A proud moment for entirely arbitrary award provision as we embark onto 2024. Until next time all!
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