Happy New Year everyone! It’s a new year and that means new things to discuss. In my case, that means playing catch-up since I can never stay on topic. However, I have something relatively recent to talk about this time and that is the Steam Awards 2022, awards that are honestly more worthwhile than anything present at the Oscars. I have a picture detailing this below.
There are eleven categories that people voted on this year and what better way to kick off the year than by reflecting on our mistakes. I’m kidding! Mostly. So, let’s get started with the most standout prize of all: The Game of the Year.
Game of the Year
Now the game of the year is probably the one award everybody pays the most attention to and for good reason. After all, it is a cool title to have. Who wouldn’t want to get the crown of Game of the Year? So, let’s look at who won.
That’s right! The winner this year was the latest FromSoftware game, Elden Ring. Honestly, it was pretty deserved. Not that it had much competition. The only game I could see challenging it is God of War (2018), but that didn’t technically come out this year so I could understand why it didn’t quite make it. I’m not saying the other games weren’t good, but if I’m being honest I forgot that two of those games came out this year. See if you can guess which two.
VR Game of The Year
Honestly, I have mixed feelings about this category. I don’t really mess with VR and that’s because while it is an interesting concept, I play videogames to hide my lack of motor skills. Of course, that’s just me, as evidenced by the pick this year for this category. The winner was Hitman 3 which I can only say was a game. I don’t think it is bad or anything, but I don’t know how it plays in VR just like all the other nominations. If you are curious about them go to the listed page on Steam. I’m not going to show every picture.
Labor of Love
Okay, this one I actually have things to say so let’s just put it up real quick and then we’ll discuss.
Now, this one was a shock to me. I remember the release of this game having some mixed reviews for its performance and yet now this game has made a comeback which got it this award. It is surprising, to say the least, but if No Man’s Sky can be redeemed, then why not this game? Although apparently No Man’s Sky wasn’t redeemed enough to get the reward so I guess the developers of Cyberpunk 2077 must have things figured out. I just hope we are giving this award because of their improvements since fixing the game and not before.
Better with Friends
If you have spent time on this blog before you know multiplayer games aren’t my genre. At first, it was because of a lack of gaming friends. Now, it is because I just prefer single-player. Personally, I blame lag. So since Raft won this award, I honestly can only say congratulations and I’m honestly kind of surprised that people are still playing that game. Well, good for them.
Outstanding Visual Style
Okay, this one genuinely baffles me. I have to be honest and say that I have no idea how this game won. In this category we gave it to Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Now the description for this award itself says that it is less about graphics and more about its unique presentation. And yet, we gave the award to the game that is literally based off of the engine of an existing game. That just seems a little weird to me. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has outstanding visual style, but this game simply looks nice. You cannot honestly tell me that this was the most visually outstanding game this year. Maybe something’s wrong with my eyes, but I just can’t see it.
Most Innovative Gameplay
I have mixed feelings about this one. I do think this game deserves this award and yet at the same time, I am hesitant to give approval. I’m getting ahead of myself though. First let me show you who won.
That’s right. It’s the game where you don’t just play as a cat. You are the cat. It deserves to be the most innovative game just on how much effort they put into making you feel like a cat. There is honestly no competition here. So why am I hesitant? It is because I don’t want to admit that this is one of the most interesting games to come out this year. It is essentially a cat simulator with a decent storyline and it was one of the best things to come out this year. I just don’t know how to feel about that. Congrats to you cat-lovers though. I mean it, it is a good game.
Best Game You Suck At
It’s Elden Ring. Nothing else I need to say. We’re moving on.
Best Soundtrack
Were there a lot of good soundtracks for videogames this year? Yes. Is Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade the one that deserved it the most? I don’t know. It is hard to tell if this game actually has a better soundtrack than the others or if there are just a lot of fans of Final Fantasy VII that will die for that game. I won’t know until I play the game. Unfortunately, it is not very high on the backlog.
Outstanding Story-Rich Game
You know, this is one entry I can’t help but agree with. Let’s show who won.
Yeah. I never thought I would say that the God of War series would be doing the best in the story department, but here we are. I will say it is definitely deserved, but honestly, I think almost everyone in this category was a strong competitor. Almost.
Sit Back and Relax
This category sounds weird to me because typically I play games to unwind. I don’t think most people are trying to become angrier while playing games. Unless of course they want to grab some views. That being said I think that LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is a perfect choice. After all, playing through the saga in LEGO videogame format is a lot more relaxing than having to sit through all nine movies in the saga.
Best Game on the Go
Now onto the last category for the Steam Awards of 2022. Truth be told, this one took me some time to figure out so bear with me here after you see the winner.
This one through me for a loop. I think I understand though. there are two possibilities and both in my eyes are equally viable. The first is that the people who played the game got so invested in the plotline and gameplay that they couldn’t help but take it with them, which gave it the edge over its less story-driven counterparts. The second is that people voted it to make a joke about how your primary focus in the game is being a delivery man meaning you are always on the go. I’ll be honest, my friend Denison shared that one with me. Personally, the fact that I can’t discount this theory kind of annoys me, but I have come to accept that not everything can have a reasonable explanation. Oh, well.
Well, that is the first post of the new year. Let me know if you agree with the winners of these awards. If you don’t really care, thanks for stopping by anyway. Oh, one last thing. My new challenge this year is going to be less of a gimmick this time. Instead, I will focus on getting each blog post to have pictures in them. Try and dazzle the eyes and all that. Here’s hoping for a good year, everyone! See you next time.
That Casual Gamer Guy 