Dec 082023
The Game Awards took place last night, and that meant we got plenty of new game announcements and trailers alongside the awards.
There wasn’t anything Earth-shattering for me (which is probably good, since 2024 already looks so stacked my backlog is shuddering in fear), but there were still some great announcements.
The following games were the highlights for me.
First, a really big surprise was Pony Island 2: Panda Circus. We talked about the first Pony Island a couple years ago, as part of 2021’s spooky games celebration. It was a puzzle game that was bizarre, funny, and creepy, with some fantastic tricks for the player. I enjoyed it a lot, so I’ll definitely play the sequel when it comes out.
The next big highlight for me was the new trailer for Metaphor: ReFantazio. It was announced ahead of time that it would be shown, so I wasn’t surprised, but I was excited to get another look!
Its fantasy setting comes across more clearly in this trailer, and it looks like it will be a great game to play. It’s now set for fall 2024 (fortunately distanced from the crush of games at the start of the year).
Now, what should have a been a huge, exciting surprise for me was the announcement that God of War: Ragnarok has DLC comeing out on December 12 for free, especially since it’s an epilogue to the story.
But my enthusiasm diminished when they said it will involve roguelike elements. Hearing the term “roguelike” doesn’t immediately turn me away anymore after I enjoyed Hades so much, but it did change my initial reaction from “I need to get back to Ragnarok and hurry up and finish it!” to “Sure, I’ll get back to Ragnarok eventually.”
How about another exciting surprise, then? The Mana series is getting a new mainline entry next year with Visions of Mana. It looks beautiful! I’m disappointed that there’s no Switch version, but maybe they’re assuming the Switch’s successor will be out by then.
(I probably should play some more Mana games before then, though.)
Getting back to DLC, another big announcement of the night was the reveal of two DLCs for Final Fantasy XVI, the first of which is already out while the second will be coming next spring. I’ll get around to playing Final Fantasy XVI one of these days, once I finally pick up a PS5.
The Game Awards was one big long reminder of games I want to play. Don’t forget the epic performance by Poets of the Fall as the Old Gods of Asgard, which I watched even though I haven’t played Alan Wake 2 yet. It just got me even more excited to finally play. Rise of the Ronin also looks pretty cool, and so does the new game from the developers of Ori and the Blind Forest, No Rest for the Wicked.
These are the announcements that stood out the most to me from this year’s Game Awards! What games are you most excited for?
I really liked Metaphor Re:Fantazio of course (or however you spell it). I was happy for your eventual Alan Wake playthrough for its good reviews! The most surprising announcement to me, that had me laughing, was the new game from the creators of Untitled Goose Game. Of the game awards themselves, I was reminded that Cocoon looks really cool and that I want to give it a try. I will also likely play Spider-Man… whenever I also get around to getting a PS5 which I still don’t feel a strong need for, given my decent current backlog of PS4 games.
Oh yes, that was a fun announcement.
Since my PC would explode if I even considered playing Alan Wake 2 on it, I’ll be picking up a PS5 for that, so the number of PS5 games I want finally became enough.
To clarify, does this mean you actually sat through and watched The Game Awards in its entirety and enjoyed it?
Yes. It only had a handful of highlights for me, but they were worth it. (Although the last half hour or so, I didn’t see live.)
[…] of the best surprise announcements from the Game Awards last year was Visions of Mana, a brand-new entry in the Mana […]