by Dillon Fisher (7th)

Okay, so I briefly recapped the 2024 Game Awards in my 2024 Recap and highlighted the biggest moments. But I didn’t cover everything, so I’ll do that here. I’ll also go over my top picks of the year and who I thought should’ve won Game of the Year—but that’ll be in a different article. So, let's-a go!

Part 1: The Game Awards

First up, we have Astro Bot by Team Asobi, which took home Best Action/Adventure Game, Best Game Direction, Best Family Game, and, finally, Game of the Year. Astro Bot excelled in every category and has officially become Sony’s answer to Mario. It won’t surpass the original Mario, though.

Next, we have Helldivers 2 by Arrowhead Studios—a game I really want. Unfortunately, it’s only available on PS5 and PC. Anyway… it won Best Multiplayer Game and Best Ongoing Game, which Fortnite was also contending for. Take that, Gen Alpha brats! This win was well deserved—we needed an indie studio to finally take down Activision, Call of Duty, and Fortnite, which have been scamming people out of their money for years. The best part? Arrowhead delivered. Kudos to you, Arrowhead.

Then there’s Black Myth: Wukong by Game Science. I haven’t played it, but I’ve heard great things. It was so good, in fact, that it won Best Action Game and the Players’ Voice Award. It was even nominated for Game of the Year! Sounds like a stellar game. If you want more details, look it up—we’re moving on!

Metaphor: ReFantazio by Atlus and Studio Zero also had a strong showing, earning three awards and a nomination for Game of the Year. It won Best Art Direction, Best Role-Playing Game (RPG), and Best Narrative. I was honestly surprised by how much it was nominated for and won. A game playing off Persona 5’s RPG formula—and doing it well? Pretty neat, considering Persona 5 won the same award eight years ago.

Next up, an indie game that came out of nowhere (as indies do): Balatro by LocalThunk. It’s a poker roguelike that has somehow managed to avoid a single bad review from any critic. Incredible! Jokes aside, it won some big awards, including Best Debut Indie Game, Best Mobile Game, and Best Indie Game. It even contested for Game of the Year, but, well... Astro Bot happened. Definitely worth checking out.

Now, let’s quickly cover some games that only won a single award:

• Tekken 8 by Bandai Namco – Best Fighting Game
• Frostpunk 2 by 11 Bit Studios – Best Sim/Strategy Game
• EA Sports FC 25 – Best Sports/Racing Game (as expected—why are there only two big names in sports games? Just 2K and EA. That’s it, as far as I know.)
• Fallout by Bethesda – Best Adaptation
• Caseoh – Content Creator of the Year
• Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth by Square Enix – Best Score and Music
• Batman: Arkham Shadows by Camouflaj – Best VR/AR Game
• GTA 6 by Rockstar – Most Anticipated Game (like, obviously. There wasn’t even a contest.)
• League of Legends by Riot Games – Best Esports Game
• Best Esports Athlete – Faker (Lee Sang-hyeok)
• Best Esports Team – T1 (who played, surprise, League of Legends).

Well, that wraps up the first part of this article (I know, it’s long). Next up, I’ll go over my top picks of the year. Just to be clear—this is my opinion. So if Call of Duty or Fortnite isn’t on the list? Whatever. Don’t care. Deal with it.

Part 2 will be published… eventually. Just like this article, which is three months late.

Thanks for reading—keep an eye out for Part 2!