The Game Awards took place last night and there was a lot to reveal. Some of it was wildly surprising, the kind that makes your eyebrows look like they’re trying to ascend to the heavens and other announcements that just also happened.Here are the announcements or trailers that pleasantly caught your eye and others that just didn’t do anything, so let’s start with what you came for:
The Six Most Unexpected Reveals of the Game Awards 2023
Monster Hunter Steps Out Into The World Once Again
Monster Hunter has deservedly grown up to become a huge franchise, the quality was always there. It is almost surprising that the last mainline release is approaching three years old, but that didn’t stop Monster Hunter Wilds from being any less surprising. The franchise is good at keeping itself in the limelight, whether it be through expansions or spinoff titles, so this feels more unexpected than it should. Not much is shown here, but a next-gen Monster Hunter title should be a surefire hit, since its inception this franchise has only ever improved.
A Tale of Two DLCs…
So this entry is both about something that happened and something that didn’t. Perhaps it was writing about it that led this writer to be convinced Elden Ring’s upcoming DLC was inevitably going to get shown, but it didn’t. The two-year gap isn’t a great one for DLC, just look at Tales Of Arise. The interest dies off, people stop playing and they trade in the game or just don’t want to play it again, a lot can happen in two years. That said, Elden Ring was a monumental success so the interest will take a lot longer to fade away.
However, this lack of news contrasted badly when Final Fantasy XVI revealed that its first DLC would release today, a mere three months after the DLC was first announced and only five and a half months on from the base game’s release. This was a quick turnaround, and yes Elden Ring’s DLC could be larger, even factoring in the second wave of DLC for XVI, but that isn’t known yet. This wasn’t a contrast Elden Ring needed.
Light No Fire Sparks The Flame Of Intrigue Once Again
Hello Games, the developer and publisher of No Man’s Sky, revealed its next project Light No Fire. The trailer looks great, it boasts of a multiplayer, procedurally generated world in a fantasy setting and it looks to be a very promising game. The one big question with this title will be whether it lands with the quality that No Man’s Sky initially had or the game it subsequently became.
If it is the latter, then this could be impressive and would cap a fine arc of redemption from the developer following its disastrous launch of No Man’s Sky. A lot of eyes will be on this project.
Hideo Kojima Confuses and Intrigues Us Once Again With OD
Did anyone see this coming? Anyone? Hideo Kojima and Jordan Peele dropped the announcement that they are collaborating on a game which the former describes as: “A very unique, immersive, and totally new style of game – or rather, a new form of media.” Given Kojima and Peele’s separate work in the past this seems like a tantalisingly odd prospect and the trailer did not reveal anything about what the final product might resemble.
On the acting side it will be led by Sophia Lillis, Hunter Schafer and Udo Kier, so to put it mildly it’ll be interesting to see what will emerge from this. Though again, given the prior work of the people involved, it isn’t wise to bet on this being anything other than a huge success.
Sega Pulls the Entire Deck Out of Its Sleeve
Typically, a game developer might make a surprise reveal of one title. If they’re doing a full presentation of nearly 40 minutes, they will reveal several more to let each announcement sink in. Sega decided to do the exact opposite last night, packing in five concrete reveals and snippets of gameplay in a 93-second trailer which promises even more announcements. Remakes for: Golden Axe, Crazy Taxi, Shinobi, Streets Of Rage and Jet Set Radio were all confirmed in one trailer with a tantalising and not very self-aware “and more” put on the end of the list.
For anyone who wasn’t born after the very late 1990s, this was a huge announcement and any of those five would have been noteworthy alone. This only avoids the top spot because of how much people clamour for these games to return, to emphasise that point Streets Of Rage got a sequel only two years ago. This was a confident play from Sega, and one that only leaves more questions, and a great deal of deserved excitement, in its wake.
World Of Goo 2 – Yes, Genuinely, World of Goo 2
This is written in order of how little these games were expected to emerge and this is the easiest entry to write. After 15 years World Of Goo returns with a sequel, yes the puzzle game that everyone bought on a Steam sale 10 years ago is back with a successor. Did anyone expect this? The developers had fun with the trailer, making numerous jokes about how long it has been.
The initial game wasn’t a world-beating behemoth, but it was a lot of fun. This isn’t the biggest announcement, but this list doesn’t ask that question, this was very surprising. The Game Awards needs reveals like this to continue its already considerable reputation in the gaming calendar, so welcome back.
The Four Games You Were, Or at Least Should Have Been, Expecting at TGA 2023
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Reveals… Cid?
Now this has been this writer’s most awaited game since Remake came out. Yet the release date trailer back in September gave more than enough information, to the point it is arguable whether there is too much getting revealed. There were a few nice details revealed last night about what is to come. Given the quality of the voice acting in the first game it is exciting to hear a main character speak for the first time, so step forward Cid.
This is arguably the most unnecessary trailer. This game is shaping up extremely well by the looks of things so roll on February 29, because this title is the sole reason this writer remembers that 2024 is a leap year.
Skull and Bones Reveals Its Release Date… Again
Perhaps this is harsh, but after so many delays to the release date, this will only count as a surprise when it finally crosses the finish line and lands in the hands of players. The positive note is that this release date, 16th of February next year, is not far away. After so many delays, the excitement will naturally turn to worry. Games that receive so many delays are a tough one to get right, to put it mildly. While it looks like it will finally get released it is hard to be surprised or too excited. If it gets over the line and proves to be an excellent game, then perhaps a dose of humble pie will need to be ordered.
Fortnite Rocket Racing Surprises You But Also Doesn’t
This collaboration hasn’t happened before, how? This feels like a combination that should have already happened, yes Rocket League and Fortnite are combining for a racing mode in the latter. From the trailer, it looks like nothing we haven’t already seen in Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged, which was released less than two months ago. Still, the cynicism aside, this will be a huge hit and a great addition to Fortnite and it is out today which perhaps makes its inclusion here somewhat mean.
This makes this list purely because anyone watching this will have immediately thought ‘Wait, how has this not already happened?’ A good addition, but don’t pretend you’re all that surprised by it.
Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League Aims for Redemption
Everything that was said about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is also present here except it is needed in this instance. Any veterans of the State Of Play presentation from Sony back in February will remember an elongated segment about a game that looked distinctly average. Rebirth looks fantastic, but Suicide Squad does not, so a new trailer was needed given that it is being released in less than two months.
To its credit, the new gameplay did look better than what was shown in February but this is a rescue mission, not a fun display of something exciting to come. It was inevitable that a trailer would arrive at an event like The Game Awards, so it isn’t very surprising nor is it that exciting.
