Player 2 Vs The Game Awards 2022 - The Show Part 1
It’s the night of nights for the video game world – The Game Awards – the Geoff Keighley hosted event that awards the year’s very best games, and celebrates all who make the industry as incredible as it is, but also serves as an opportunity to look forward to what is to come. Join Player 2 editors Paul and Jess as the pair debrief on each of the big game’s announced at the event, and reflect on all of the winners
Hades II
Paul: I’m ashamed to admit that despite all the buzz, all the acclaim, and all of the success, that I’ve still not played Hades *ducks and covers to avoid the stoning.* I endeavour to rectify this, and the Hades II reveal is certainly the catalyst to help me redeem myself. I loved what I saw, and can’t wait to join the excited bandwagon.
Jess: I guess it makes sense that this would happen off the back of Hades’ success, but I think it’s the studio’s first time making a sequel. I’m curious to see how this story will differ, but definitely ready to jump back into this style of gameplay. Hades hooked me like no other game in this genre has, so I’m ready to do it all again.
Judas
Paul: Bioshock developers, no longer working on Bioshock, developing a game that evokes a tonne of Bioshock, but it’s Bioshock, meanwhile a team in the same family of studios is working on a new Bioshock… that was a lot but Judas looks awesome, and it would want to be considering Ken Levine and his new team at Ghost Story Games have been working on it for at least six years already!
Jess: It sure looks like Bioshock, yep. I’m curious about the “new styles of narrative” that the studio’s apparently experimenting with, and there’s no denying that the game looks good, so chances are this is going to be a big one.
Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon
Paul: The Bayonetta titles just keep knocking it out of the park time after time which makes this pivot so interesting to me. Stylistically, and in terms of the gameplay Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon is doing so much differently to what has come before, and I’m all in on it. A short turn around before it releases is pretty cool too!
Jess: I kinda love this complete stylistic shift for this series. Bayonetta is a hot topic at the moment, so shaking things up feels like a good move – and this looks beautiful. Interesting that this is so hot on the heels of Bayonetta 3 – I’m sure the industry is going to have some big feelings about that.
Destiny 2
Paul: I fell of Destiny 2 within the first few months after launch and while the content that Bungie keeps rolling out continues to impress from afar, I’ll never go back. The mountain to climb to access it all is simply too great nowadays.
Jess: Destiny is not my jam, but this looks pretty rad? It was definitely a slick trailer.
Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League
Paul: I’ve gone from concerned by the live service components to all in despite the game not really showing off gameplay – for now though, all we can say is – RIP Kevin Conroy
Jess: Everything I see about this game makes me more excited. The humour seems like it’s gonna hit just right, and I look at every new iteration of Harley Quinn with very very very cautious optimism – but everyone’s been getting it right lately. Plus, this feels like it’s in the right hands with Rocksteady. All the ingredients are there for this to be wonderful, I just hope it lands.
Party Animals
Paul: It’s cute for sure but I dunno what the lasting value is here. There’s definitely some laughs in store but I think the smiles will fade pretty fast. I’d love for it to work though so maybe I just need hands on with it
Jess: This looks adorable and brutal. Friendships will be made, broken, and cemented with this game, I feel. It looks kind of like Mario Party, but more memey, and also cuter? There’s the potential for this to be hilarious fun, or to be very, very toxic and cringey, and I’m curious to see which way it will go.
The Last Of Us Part I PC
Paul: PC only players have never had the opportunity to play one of the greatest games of all time in The Last Of Us but now they only have to wait until March to experience it in the definitive way. Enjoy!
Jess: And again, we have another PlayStation exclusive on its way to PC – another inevitability. Excited for it to reach more audiences!
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Paul: I’d already heard about the March release thanks to leaks prior to the event but I was stoked to get the gameplay that we got from this showing. Fallen Order was one of my favourite games of 2019 and now I’m champing at the bit to return to the slice of the galaxy that Respawn carved out perfectly.
Jess: This is coming much sooner than I expected. March!! I enjoyed Jedi: Fallen Order so much, and I’m ready to love this one even more. The character animation in particular looks like it’s really had an upgrade, and I’m so ready to spend an unreasonably long amount of time customising my lightsaber again.
Earthblade
aul: I’m all in. I didn’t think Celeste was the legendary title that so many consider it to be but it’s still pretty damn excellent, but I see many of those superb qualities in Earthblade, so consider me ready
Jess: I was very, very bad at Celeste, but it was an incredible game that meant a lot to a huge community of people, and I’m so excited to see what this studio does next. The gameplay looks like it’s going to be very similar, which to be honest, is probably exactly what fans are looking for. Why fix what isn’t broken?
Dune Awakening
Paul: I’m no Dune expert so yay for those that are?
Jess: I know nothing about the Dune series either (again, so sorry), but this looks pretty huge? Not much to go off here, but enough to pique interest.
Forspoken
Paul: I’m already downloading that demo as we speak! Forspoken is speaking to me in ways that few other games can, and it’s style and combat substance have me hooked. Keen to check in later with some more comprehensive thoughts on this new Square-Enix IP
Jess: Forspoken is currently one of my most anticipated games, and every time I see it I just get more excited. And now there’s gonna be a demo?! Excuse me, I have to stop watching these awards immediately to play it. My god. This looks SO GOOD. I don’t even care if it objectively isn’t, at this point. I am so excited.
Death Stranding 2
Paul: I still haven’t played Death Stranding so if you hadn’t stopped stoning me from my Hades comments earlier then this isn’t likely to change anything now. That said, I’ve always been interested and Death Stranding 2 has presented well here – im keen for more
Jess: Okay, what?! I played the beginning of Death Stranding and remember almost nothing, and that trailer was a fucking wild ride. This seems. Bad? This seems like deep, deep trauma? I feel like female characters are having a very very bad time here again? I mean, classic Kojima, but still. What.
Immortals Of Aveum
Paul: The EA Originals keep on delivering, but also keep increasing in scale. I do feel as though degree of the indie heart to some of these titles has been lost with games like It Takes Two, Wild Hearts and now Immortal Of Aveum not really feeling like they belong alongside the likes of Unravel of Fe, but regardless, the game has a style that’s really grabbed my interest. Keen for more.
Jess: It’s certainly a pretty looking trailer. I feel like I want to know more about it, but again – I’m intrigued.
Tekken 8
Paul: My history and interest in Tekken is sadly about as long as this comment
Jess: I have truly no opinion on Tekken.
Nightingale
Paul: I’ve been in on Nightingale from the moment the game debuted this time last year, and every time it resurfaces I sit up to pay attention. The game hits all the right notes to make it a Paul game mechanically and stylistically, so just let me at it already
Jess: Nightingale is still something of an enigma. The trailer implied it will be both first and third person, which is definitely welcome! And the fashion looks good. I hope there’s substance to match the style.
Baldur’s Gate III
Paul: I was really into Baldur’s Gate III when it was first announced but I’m also not much of a PC guy so at this point, I’m still just longingly watching on from afar. Hopefully with the full release now incoming, Larian (or a porting team) can soon focus their work on bringing the game to consoles.
Jess: I feel like I could get very into Baldur’s Gate, but I do worry that there will be many spiders in this game. That might be the only thing that stops me from losing a million hours to this game, because it looks phenomenal. Okay, see, I started writing this feeling hopeful, and then halfway through the trailer, one of the characters was a spider. The man was a spider. I want to play this so bad. But the spiders.
Wayfinder
Paul: I don’t know if Wayfinder is my thing but at the same time, it comes from Airship Syndicate, a team I trust implicitly following their work on Battlechasers: Nightwar, Darksiders Genesis, and The Ruined King: A League Of Legends Story. If any team could get me hooked on this live-service cycle, it’s Airship.
Jess:This is going to be really great, or really not my thing, and I’m not quite sure which way it’s going to go. Loving the art style and the colour choices, not sure about the combat, but ready to find out.
Fire Emblem Engage
Paul: Fire Emblem Awakening changed everything and since then I’ve been down the well on the franchise completely – Engage is looking exceptional, and I’m incredibly excited to get my hands on the game and dive into it.
Jess: One day I’m going to fall deep into a Fire Emblem hole. Once I play one, I think I’ll play them all. But that has not yet happened.
Sky: Children Of Light
Paul: Sky has been a force in the mobile space for a few years and has gradually migrated over to the audience that made ThatGameCompany what it is today, from Mobile to Switch and now the big consoles. Finally, I’ll give this one a proper go.
Jess: This is so cute. This trailer just made me feel nice, and I’m always keen to see what thatgamecompany is up to.
Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores
Paul: Until God Of War Ragnarok rolled along Horizon Forbidden West was my Game of the Year, and so I’ve been desperately awaiting what felt like inevitable DLC for far too long. Burning Shores has me hyped for all reasons other than the release date being amidst that Q1/Q2 launch mess. Can’t wait
Jess: Yes yes yes. DLC for Horizon – it’s finally happening. I can’t wait to get back into this game, even though the major enemy for this game looks more spidery than I’m used to in Horizon games.
Diablo IV
Paul: Another CG trailer that looks amazing but neglected to show us anything that the fortunate members of the media have had for a week that we haven’t – gameplay. June 6 sounds like it might be a contentious date internally so I’ll sit here expecting a delay but still the fact that we’re this close to launch has me hyped.
Jess: Halsey absolutely killed it, and somehow made me a little excited for a Diablo game. The rest of it looks like standard Diablo fare, but damn, what a presentation!
And so that wraps up our coverage of the first half of an enormous The Game Awards showing. There was a lot to dissect from that segment of the show alone, let alone the madness that was still to come in the final hour or so… let alone the awards themselves! Tune back in tomorrow where Jess and Paul continue to pull apart each and every announcement from the biggest event in the gaming calendar.
