THE gaming Oscars known as The Game Awards are just weeks away and everyone is speculating about who will win.
Host Geoff Keighley dropped a bombshell saying that DLC will be nominated for the first time.
However, no one expected DLC to be nominated for the most prestigious award, Game of the Year.
We’ve grouped together and taken a look at all of the nominees at The Game Awards, and made our predictions for all of the biggest categories.
You can also click on the links for the nominees to check out our reviews.
Nominees: Balatro, Animal Well, Neva, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, UFO 50
This year has been incredible for independent games, and all of these would be deserving of this award.
UFO 50 is a nostalgic ride back into ‘80s gaming, with far more to it than first appears, while Animal Well is a game you’ll want to play over and over.
However, as the only game that is also nominated for Game of the Year, we think Balatro is a lock for this win.
The roguelike Poker game had us absolutely hooked, and we keep playing even if we never win.
Nominees: Astro Bot, Black Myth: Wukong, Elden Ring, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Neva
Nominees in this category span the breadth of art design, from the cutesy art style of PlayStation’s Astro Bot, to the dark and gritty Black Myth: Wukong.
While we love the colourful world of Metaphor: ReFantazio, the jury usually votes for darker, more graphically intensive games.
That is why we think the Elden Ring DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, will scoop up this award.
Nominees: Astro Bot, Silent Hill 2, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Stellar Blade, Metaphor: ReFantazio
We could listen to all of these gaming soundtracks again and again, whether that’s Stellar Blade’s whimsical orchestrals, or Metaphor’s monk-like chants.
However, like with art direction, we know the jury and that they usually vote for something more mainstream.
Final Fantasy 7’s original score is legendary at this point, and the much-loved upgrades for Rebirth are just the icing on the cake.
Nominees: Metaphor: ReFantazio, Silent Hill 2, Hellblade 2: Senua’s Saga, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
When it comes to storylines it’s hard to beat Atlus, with a legendary library of stories like the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei series.
Metaphor: ReFantazio is new waters for the former Persona team, but it proves that they can handle high fantasy just as masterfully as they write high school.
That said we also want to call out Silent Hill 2 and Final Fantasy 7, both classic stories that have endured over time and considered some of the best ever.
Nominees: Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Helldivers 2, Super Mario Party Jamboree, Tekken 8, Warhammer 40k: Space Marines 2
Like the Best Independent Game category, all of these games deserve to win for the thousands of joyous gameplay hours they have given us.
Black Ops 6 is one of the best entries in the historic series, and the same goes for Mario Party.
However, Helldivers 2 felt like a breath of fresh air at a time when a slew of live-service disasters were released, and we’re still playing almost a month later.
Nominees: Death Stranding 2, Ghost of Yotei, GTA 6, Metroid Prime 4, Monster Hunter Wilds
We’re looking forward to all of the games on this list, particularly Metroid Prime 4 which was first announced seven years ago.
However, a new mainline Grand Theft Auto game will stir the masses in a way that no other series can.
If any other game wins in this category, it will honestly be a travesty.
Nominees: Dragon’s Dogma 2, Elden Ring, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
We gave every game on this list a 10/10, and it has been one of the best years ever for RPGs.
Personally, we’d like to see fresher takes on the genre like Dragon’s Dogma 2 or Metaphor: ReFantazio to take the crown, but we don’t see the voting going that way.
That’s not to say Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth doesn’t deserve that honour. It’s an incredible remake based on one of the best games of all time after all.
Nominees: Astro Bot, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Silent Hill 2, Star Wars Outlaws, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
Here’s another list of nominees filled with games that achieved sky-high ratings that we’d love to play again.
Prince of Persia and Echoes of Wisdom deserve particular praise for being completely new takes on popular series, with unique and innovative gameplay.
In any other year they would deserve this award, but Astro Bot also released in 2024, and it’s one of the best games of all time.
Nominees: Black Myth: Wukong, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Helldivers 2, Stellar Blade, Warhammer 40k: Space Marines 2
Few games saw the success of Black Myth: Wukong selling millions in the first week, and instantly becoming one of the most played games of all time.
It is a new take on the soulslike genre, focusing solely on the bosses rather than an open world with difficult paths between each fight.
In this category Stellar Blade also impressed us, with impressive world building, and an innovative approach to gameplay, which allowed players to switch between genres.
Nominees: Astro Bot, Black Myth: Wukong, Elden Ring, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Balatro
As is tradition with The Game Awards, the same games are nominated for Best Direction and Game of the Year.
Best Direction is basically the runner-up for the top award, and you rarely see the same game win both categories.
This is why we think Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will win this category, leaving space for the real Game of the Year.
Nominees: Astro Bot, Black Myth: Wukong, Elden Ring, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Balatro
We think that The Game Awards are feeling spicy this year, and won’t only nominate a DLC for Game of the Year, but will even give it the crown.
Shadow of the Erdtree is larger than most standalone games and we think it’s completely deserving of this title.
We’d love to see Metaphor: ReFantazio take this crown, but The Game Awards tends to favour Western games outside of Elden Ring developer FromSoftware.
Get the lowdown on more of the latest PS5 releases from our expert reviewers.
For Xbox Series X and Nintendo Switch, check out our full game reviews section.
