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Rejoice, gamers! The Game Awards (TGA) is nearly upon us! In just a couple of weeks, Geoff Keighley will once again bless us with a barrage of video game trailers, reveals, and ads. Oh, and there’ll be a few awards too, apparently. I’m being facetious; truly, it’s great to see some of our industry’s finest games getting the recognition they deserve. Let’s just hope there’s more of a focus on the actual, you know, awards this year. And, for my money, one of the most nominated games, Astro Bot, deserves to dominate TGA 2024.
Bot Stuff
I loved playing Astro Bot. As in, I adored it. In fact, I can’t really remember a game that consistently delivered moments of pure, whimsical joy like Team Asobi’s platformer did. It wasn’t perfect, in my opinion, but it cemented Team Asobi as a top-tier developer and made me extremely excited for what it will do next.
Of course, I wasn’t alone in that assessment. With a staggering 95% average on OpenCritic, Astro Bot is the best rated game of the year. As such, it’s hardly a surprise to see it heavily nominated in this year’s TGAs. If ever a game deserved such celebration, it’s plucky Astro’s latest adventure.
But, as I perused the nominees for each category, something dawned on me. Astro Bot could absolutely clean up here. In fact, I’d argue that it deserves to.
Bot of Phwoar
I know what you’re thinking. And the answer’s yes: I can keep these “Bot” puns going all day. No, they don’t get any better.
Anyway, Astro Bot has been nominated in an astonishing seven categories for TGA 2024 – equaled only by Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth. Astro has hopped and skated his way into the Best Game Direction, Best Art Direction, Best Score and Music, Best Audio Design, Best Action Adventure Game and Best Family Game categories. Crucially, Astro Bot is also nominated for the biggest prize: the overall Game of the Year. Looking at the competitors, I genuinely think Astro Bot has a good chance of winning most of its categories.
In most categories, the same games keep reappearing. Astro will have to consistently beat off competition from Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree and Metaphor: ReFantazio. A few other notable “AAA” titles make up the other nominees, but those are the recurring big guns.
Full disclosure: I haven’t played Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. I like my games to pose a challenge, but FromSoft games are, for me, like trying to rip out your own fingernails. Sure, there might be a sense of satisfaction when you eventually manage one, but one would have to question whether the agony endured is worth it. So, aside from the whole DLC debacle, I can’t speak first-hand as to Erdtree‘s quality, but I have no doubt it’s a fantastic game (expansion).
But I can fully attest that Metaphor: ReFantazio and Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth are fantastic games, both fully deserving of recognition at TGA 2024. Are they better than Astro Bot, though? No. No they’re not.
Bot A Contest
Let’s break it down. Astro Bot‘s game direction is exemplary, providing an experience that consistently brings joy throughout its run time. It knows what it’s trying to achieve – fun – and everything is in service to that. Well, aside from those horrid challenge levels. Shadow of the Erdree may have a look in here, but nothing else comes close for me.
Although Astro Bot is beautifully colorful and vibrant, Best Art Direction may be a stretch, admittedly. I’d like to see Nomada Studio’s gorgeous Neva win here. Best Score and Music, though? That’s Astro Bot, hands down. Good grief, there are some banging tunes in that game.
It’s also hard to see past Astro swiping the Best Action Adventure Game crown. I mean, that’s his genre, right? Unless Star Wars: Outlaws gets the recognition it rightfully deserves and… Nah, only kidding. What’s more, Astro Bot is so family-friendly that it will probably beat off Mario and Zelda to take Best Family Game.
But what about the big one – TGA 2024 Game of the Year? Well, Black Myth: Wukong will win a huge popularity vote because of the Chinese audience, and Balatro deserves recognition for its incredibly tight game design. Metaphor: ReFantazio has emerged as a late strong contender, but it could be argued that it’s another brilliant Atlus game, demonstrating the studio’s unparalleled mastery of the JRPG sub-genre. But it’s not all that new, as such. Did it almost come out of nowhere to defy all expectations and provide a glow of warm light in an otherwise bleak year? Not really. But Astro Bot did. And for that reason, I fully expect the intrepid little android to be awarded the ultimate crown. If Astro Bot takes Game of the Year, I might even try to get the dang last bot to celebrate.
