Hades II has been nominated in a bunch of categories at this year’s The Game Awards, or the TGAs as they’re often called these days.
I don’t mind admitting that I voted for Supergiant’s superlative sequel where I could. Of course, I’m a bit biased. It’s actually up for a few nods, not just in the main category: Game of the Year. That being so, if you want to make sure that the studio gets some recognition, head over to the Best Game Direction, Best Art Direction, Best Score and Music, and Best Action category pages and do the right thing.
Hades 2 is up against a number of the same games across several categories, and after looking through them all, the other most nominated games include Hollow Knight: Silksong (I’ve had a quick look, lovely game but ultimately not for me), plus a bunch of big budget types. For example, there is Death Stranding 2, Clair Obscure: Expedition 33, Split Fiction, and Ghost of Yotei.
I’ve already talked at length about the indie categories, where Hades II is also included. When Megabonk stepped out of the running for the Best Debut Indie Game award, we lost one of the few genuine indie games featured in this year’s event.
I’m also delighted to see some fantastic games nominated in the main indie category, even if the word has come to mean “indie spirit” rather than “independent” these days. Here is the category in full:
Best Independent Game
- Absolum (pictured above) was developed by Guard Crush Games and Supamonks, with publishing support from Dotemu and Gamirror Games. Here’s my review, if you’d like to know more about this beautiful side-scrolling beat ’em up.
- Ball X Pit was developed by Kenny Sun and Friends, with publishing support from Devolver Digital. I reviewed this one, too, and it’s great,
- Blue Prince is a damn fine first-person puzzle roguelite by Dogubomb, with publishing support from Raw Fury. If you’d like to know more, there’s a review right here. Also up for Best Indie Debut.
- Clair Obscure: Expedition 33 is an astonishing game by Sandfall Interactive, with publishing support from Kepler Interactive. There’s no review of this one because it’s not a rogue. It’s not really an indie either, but let’s not dwell on that…
- Hades II by Supergiant Games. I’ll link to the review, but I also recently did a fun little article about games that are a bit like it. Needless to say, I’m a fan.
- Hollow Knight: Silksong by Team Cherry. As I mentioned further up the page, this looks like a wonderful game, and I was able to have a quick play thanks to its inclusion on Game Pass, however, ultimately, it’s not for me and there are plenty of rogues out there I still need to play…
Elsewhere, FromSoftware’s Elden Ring: Nightreign (pictured below and reviewed here) is somewhat roguish, and got nominated in the Best Multiplayer category, along with Peak by AggroCrab and Landfall, which I do own, but I’ve not got around to actually playing yet!
