thinking E33 didn’t deserve every award it won is pure cope. one of the greatest pieces of art to grace our screens this decade and century. hyperbole? you betcha. but I truly believe the story told and the way it’s delivered is one of those things that’s going to stick with me to my death bed. just thinking about some of the story beats gets me teary eyed and then I consider the entire world and lore built around it and it just blows my mind how it all came together. I would actually LOVE a book series set in this world
Also people really need to learn that just because something doesn't gel with them personally doesn't make it overrated. I'm not saying it's impossible to dislike Expedition 33, but that just makes you an outlier, not some universal arbiter of quality.
I wanna go a step further and say that believing you’re some integral part of game discourse and then calling anything “overrated” in the first place is so hack. It’s a plug and play word invented to avoid giving criticism on anything tangible and instead just shitting on vibes and saying “fewer people should connect with this” or “people should connect with this less” which is so stupid to even think. I’m not calling anyone out cuz I’m guilty of it (and any time I read back me calling something overrated I cringe and wonder what I was even talking about). Just a recent pet peeve of mine (and I’m sorry to anyone reading this who I’ve already gone on this rant around lmao)
Clair Obscur is my #1 or #2 of the year, still deciding between it or Blue Prince but did it really need to win Best Indie and Best New Indie too? I don’t think it should be disqualified based on budget but it’s very silly for a game to win both categories (and also calls into question the need for two discrete categories anyway), but I’m trying not to overanalayze the show because it’s always been this way, Games for Impact is another one of those, what are we doing here categories?
I wouldn't have cared if it didn't win that but IMO it is silly when awards shows try and split like that, like giving someone else "best pop album" so they can give Taylor Swift AOTY or whatever just to make sure as many people win. (But it is common so maybe people like that!) The need for those 2 categories side by side is kinda weird though, I think we could do without that
I was rooting for the E33 sweep but the soundtrack award was the only one I was gonna grab pitchforks over
I like the tomb raider and Star Wars reveals, but this show was a bit boring. Really low year for gaming when it comes to nominations. I doubt any game of this year would have won a single award during a hot year like 2023, 2018, or 2017.
I think this has been a great year for games, at least one of my favorites since 2016, but TGA is never the greatest place to get a heat check on the year in gaming.
I was comparing which years had the games with the best reviews on Metacritic for reference. 2017, 2018, and 2023 all had a couple games with ratings around 95 or higher. This year only had 2 and they were switch 2 ports of the Zelda games which don’t count lol Crazy that the, technically, highest rated games this year were just ports.
I’ve been trying to do some 2025 cramming so I can make my little top 10, and I gotta say Hades II is a decent game but it’s definitely not hitting the way the first did for me. I’ve seen a lot of complaints about the story, which is whatever to me, but I think the thing knocking it most for me is that I find the meta progression much less satisfying than the first, as well as the hub world, which is less of a big deal. But, I find the simplicity of the first game so good and I think mostly bump against the obfuscation of those progression mechanics with various recipes and reagents to worry about
Ignore my griping about Hades 2 a post above but it’s also at a 95, there are also a few games in the lower 90s so I don’t see why there is a specific distinction for 95 lol
2017 is maybe the greatest gaming year of all time so saying 2025 doesn't compete with that is fine. E33 kills winners from any other year IMO as would Silksong likely but comparison is the thief of joy always
I think half of my list is gonna be roguelikes this year. Drop Duchy, Cloverpit, Hades II, Blue Prince and Lone Star are probably all making it. Monster Train 2 is one I’ve been wanting to put more time into as well
Right now my biggest gripe with Hades II is that it does a lot to force you into a very specific style of play that I'm not as into That is also splitting hairs though and it ended as my #2 GOTY personally
I'm not either, it just also had Hollow Knight Persona 5 Nier Automata and other stuff that are all timers for me so yeah it was a very heavy hitting year IMO and hard to top for me
I want to be clear that I am NOT looking for an explanation when I say this, I’m pretty sure it’s none of my business Idk what roguelike even means