2023 marked a decade of the Game Awards being presented and every year they improve. As a gamer who has picked up a controller for most of my life, imagining an award show for video games seems also laughable seeing as society never took the genre seriously. Gaming companies with years of experience, talent, and dollars are showcasing their art and hard work to millions of viewers live and more that will watch the replay. It’s refreshing to see the medium being taken seriously and with a lot of care and respect.

The announcers, surprise guests, presentations, and quality of the show once again were done masterfully and they did not hold back. A full orchestra performed a beautiful rendition of the theme of Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth with cutscenes from the game as well as one of my gaming heroes, Hideo Kojima showing up to share about his…strange upcoming game. Nothing new and expected from the genius who created Metal Gear Solid.

There was a performance for the game Hellblade 2: Senua’s Saga which I not only found to be creepy but extremely pagan and ritualistic. I’m not a fan of this series because of how dark it is and seems to focus on a lot of demonic imagery. There were drums, incense, dancers, and what seemed like worship to something or someone but it was not made clear throughout the show.

I wanted to point this out because I don’t think many would think much of it. The performance was done well, but it just seemed out of place for me. For a game that isn’t very popular and has not sold as much as other titles presented, why focus on this in particular? It goes back to where if a Christian were to share his faith in some capacity on stage I would bet many would be upset, but a pagan ritual done in front of hundreds of thousands watching and in person is acceptable.

Ok, now that I’m done with that, let’s talk about the games I’m excited about! The show overall was exciting but it didn’t blow me away this year. I can’t complain though, because so many new trailers were released for the first time that I’m looking forward to playing. Below is my list in no special order. I’ll mention why I chose these and I would love to know your favorites in the comments.

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons remake

A tale about two brothers on a journey and their sibling bond was a huge hit when first released in 2013. I have a digital copy of it on Steam or Epic Games and I have yet to try it out. I would like to play the remake but I want to give the original a try even though I imagine it’s going to be a memorable experience. The trailer showed off some nice graphics and it looks better than its predecessor.

God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla

Free DLC? Yes, please! I’m still not done with my playthrough of God Of War so I won’t pick this one up for a while. The trailer didn’t give any details or show too much which was disappointing but as long as we are getting more Kratos and Atreus, I’m there.

SEGA Remakes: Crazy Taxi, Golden Axe, Jet Set Radio, Shinobi and more

Whoa, this announcement was unexpected! SEGA revealed remakes for some classic Dreamcast and SEGA Genesis games that haven’t been touched for decades. The games all looked really interesting and different from the short scenes we saw. It reminded me of the old commercials SEGA and Nintendo used to make for their games back when people watched TV. I hope they release them all together as a collection, but financially that might not make sense. Let’s wait and see how this turns out. Fingers crossed!

Dragon Ball Z: Sparking Zero

Goku and his friends return for more intense battles, including KameHameHa’s and mountain-shattering fights. This new game appears to be the next evolution of the beloved Budokai Tenkaichi series from the PS2 era, focusing on aerial combat and utilizing the environment. For fans of Dragonball FighterZ, this game seems to offer a different, appealing experience.

Visions Of Mana

It’s about time another Mana game is added to the franchise. Trials Of Mana, which sold over 1 million copies, showed that old and new fans were still interested in the series so thankfully, SQUARE-ENIX created Visions Of Mana. It looks stunning with its two new playable main characters, as well as the battle system getting an upgrade. You can also float around in some areas and the bosses were massive and impressive, even the ant boss from Secret Of Mana seems to have made an appearance. I will certainly be picking this one up when it lands!

OD

The new Hideo Game, OD, looks like a horror entry since it states “for all players and screamers” at the end. It showed the heads of two different people, a young girl, and an older man, saying the same lines which made no sense. As is often with Hideo’s new games, this confused me more as to what it will be about. If it’s going to be a psychological horror type of game you won’t find me picking this one up, but I’m interested in knowing more.

Blade

The movie of the same name has been hinted at for quite a while, so to see a game being released piqued my interest. No gameplay was shown, only what looks like in-game graphics, and if they look that good then it will be quite a treat. How the scene changed to red around the end was cool. I’m not a vampire fan but this one has promise.

The First Descendant

I had not heard of The First Descendant and its trailer came out strong. The designs on the suits and the epic battle with a huge robotic humanoid made me want to challenge it and see how the mechanics of the shooter are. Sci-fi shooters like Destiny 2 are fun and exciting for me, but I need to see more of what this one is about before I decide to open my wallet.

Zenless Zone Zero

What an interesting entry into the mix! It’s an anime-styled action game that seems to be team-based. The gameplay was colorful and the fight scenes pretty fast, yet I would have liked to see a little more about what the game is actually about than quickly showing the teams participating. I need to see more of what it is about though as it wasn’t too clear in the trailer.

Mecha Break

This game did not hold back and gave a clear picture of what they had to offer. The fighting between the Gundam-like mechs reminded me of Zone Of The Enders because of its fast-paced action and shooting. Moving around the battlefield seems intense and quick which I am looking forward to. This one is on my radar and I would love to play a demo of it.

Other games looked amazing but for various reasons, I didn’t put them on my list. Here they are and why:

• The Finals – The trailer was pure hype about the game and its gameplay, but what I like is that it’s already released by the time of the post so I will give it a try or watch some footage to see how it is. It didn’t show off anything specific that made it stand out from other shooters like Overwatch.
•  Monster Hunter Wilds – I have not played any Monster Hunter games (shame on me, I know!) so I don’t have much context to be excited for it. It does look epic but fans have quite a while to wait since the release date is 2025.
•  Final Fantasy 16: Echoes of the Fallen – I have FF16 on my PS5 but I’ve yet to give it a playthrough. The trailer for this DLC looked pretty big so I’m glad that there’s so much extra content coming for this new entry in the Final Fantasy franchise. Once I get through the main game, I’ll be getting this one.

What games did you enjoy most from the presentation? Which ones are you most looking forward to? Do you agree or disagree with my choices and what I said about them? Let me know in the comments!