Every year, without fail, we get a look at the TGA’s selections for the various categories that make up the games of the year. And every year, without fail, the gaming collective asks two questions.
‘How the hell did that game get a nomination?’ or ‘Where the hell is my favorite game? It deserves a nomination.’
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Yet again, this rings true, and it feels like, due to some rather suspect choices, there just wasn’t room for more fitting stars of 2024.
However, unlike Geoff Keighley’s award show, we are all for shining a spotlight on all the games that perhaps don’t fit the bill at the TGA’s but more than deserve their flowers.
So, in an effort to right the wrongs of the TGA’s, here are ten amazing games from 2024 that were snubbed, but really shouldn’t have been.
10Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden
Learning To Let Go
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden
We kick things off with an enthralling action RPG from way back in February this year. Banishers was a game that took a lot of big swings, and based on the lack of buzz around the game, you would have assumed that a lot of those were big swings that missed the mark.
But, on the contrary, Banishers actually does a litany of things right, offering a dual-focused living and undead combat scheme, a rich world to explore tied to the spiritual realm, and a wealth of quests with moral quandaries to navigate and impossible decisions to make.
Sure, the pay-off at the end is perhaps a little underwhelming for some, and it does make the canonical right thing to do painfully obvious.
But all in all, this was probably a much stronger’Choices matter RPG' than Bioware’s efforts this year. So, even if the TGA’s won’t acknowledge this one, you should absolutely give it a go.
9Another Crab’s Treasure
A Proper Shoals-Like
Another Crab’s Treasure
Souls games are hard. There you go; you can take that obligatory, cliche, and obvious statement and add it to your collection. But here’s the thing. They can be hard without being obtuse and bleak.
This was provenby the Pixar-adjacent titleAnother Crab’s Treasure, which is by a country mile the best and most accessible way fornon-souls fans to dip their toe into the genre to date.
However, the game still offers tight, familiar souls mechanics, memorable bosses, unique shell-based parry mechanics, and much more.
Yet, despite providing this jovial and accessible path into the Souls genre, the TGA’s weren’t interested in giving this one its flowers.Well, we are, and we love you, Kril.
8Thank Goodness You’re Here
Good Ol' Blighty
Thank Goodness You’re Here!
Every video game nominated by the TGA’s has its merits, offers a wealth of cool systems, and, for the most part, is very satisfying to play. But, I would arguethat not one of them nail comedy.Something that Thank Goodness You’re Here does with aplomb.
This ridiculous take on a northern English town is about as wacky as it gets and will have you engaging in the big pie vs. small pie debate, paying ten bobs for all manner of things, and slapping any intractable object in sight. You know, typical UK things.
It’s packed with laugh-a-minute comedy that doesn’t overstay its welcome and has a unique, silly irreverence that most games just can’t match.
Maybe funny, but it just isn’t what the TGAs are looking for. We love a good laugh, and for that reason, we think Thank Goodness You’re Here deserves a minute in the spotlight.
7Crow Country
Old School Horror
Crow Country
While some truly masterful survival horrors have come courtesy of this modern gaming era we navigate today, I don’t think it’s a ludicrous statement to say that the best in that particular genre was released a few decades ago.
You know, games like Silent Hill, Resident Evil, or Alone in the Dark with those gritty visuals and fixed camera angles. Well, Crow County is a game that truly gets that, and decides to pay homage to them, offering a modern game with a retro feel.
It has a wealth of clever puzzles, intentionally cumbersome combat, and an ominous feel that only visuals reminiscent of a PS1-era horror game can evoke.
Yet, when it came to horror games this year at the TGA’s, Silent Hill 2 stole the show. Which, don’t get me wrong, makes sense. But Crow County has a lot to offer, too, so maybe James Sunderland could scoot over and give this one a spot on the line-up.
6Pacific Drive
Drive To Survive
Pacific Drive
Speaking of eerie horror games that didn’t get the love they deserved, Pacific Drive is certainly one of them, offering one of the most unique and interesting takes on the survival horror genre in recent years.
This game incorporates the resource management and chilling world-building of a classic horror game with driving mechanics, as in the Olympic Peninsula, your car is your lifeline, and without your wheels, you’re as good as dead.
It’s a game where you literally drive to survive, and alongside this mechanic-based gameplay loop, there is an amazing New Weird setting and story to unravel here, too.
It has everything you could ask for from a survival game, but sadly, the TGAs just couldn’t find room to honor this indie gem in 2024.
5In Stars And Time
Dont Eat The Pineapple; you’re Allergic!
I have been caught throughout my time as a games journalist to believe the old adage that nothing good ever comes out in December, but sometimes that doesn’t hold true, and December 2023 is proof, as it gave us In Stars and Time,a truly brilliant time-looping RPG.
The problem with games releasing in December is that, while viable for the TGA selection, due to a heavy recency bias, they just never stand a chance of popping up, and for this reason, ISAT just never stood a chance.
But I should have been part of the discussion, as the game offers one of the most innovative and fleshed-out time-loop formats on record, a meta take on RPGs as a whole, and some of the finest character development I’ve ever seen.
Plus, due to the progressive and inclusive nature of the narrative, it would have also been a shoo-in for ‘Games for Impact’ too. But alas, this one gets the snub as well.
4Visions of Mana
Got Another Grizzly!
Visions of Mana
Before you roll your eyes, I get it;this was a very strong year for JRPGs, and ATLUS alone could probably have monopolized the nominees in any other year. But I feel that Visions of Mana is too good of a game not to get at least a mention here.
After the rather lukewarm remake of Trials of Mana years ago, Visions of Mana needed to step it up, and that it did with a vibrant world to explore, a cast of colorful characters, an accessible but deep combat system, and oodles of content.
Ever since Secrets of Mana, the series has been a bit of a sleeping giant, and for all the world, it seemed like Visions of Mana was a new dawn for the series.
But perhaps this lack of recognition shows that the Mana series needs to be a lot more to garner the attention of the TGA’s.
3Nine Sols
A 2D Sekiro-Like
If there’s one game this year that I felt like I was the only one singing the praises of, it was Nine Sols, and for the life of me, I have no idea why that was, as this game is utterly amazing.
Nine Sols is a 2D Souls-like, as you might have guessed by the name, but specifically, it’s a Sekiro-like, focusing heavily on mastering parries and blocks to survive in this punishing Tao-inspired world.
The combat wasas polished as any 2D souls-like out there, the platforming was refined, the world-building and map-design was on point, the game looked the part, and the soundtrack was exquisite too.
In short, I honestly don’t know what more this game could have done to earn a spot on the TGA nominees list, but forget them, just play this game. You won’t regret it.
2Sonic X Shadow Generations
The Original Anti-Hero Hedgehog
Sonic X Shadow Generations
I think it has become rather fashionable to hate on Sonic. After all, as a series, it has given us ample opportunities to take pop shots, and I admit, I’ve taken a few myself.
But, equally, I know how to take a step back and admire a series when it comes roaring back with a redemption arc, and that has been happening ever since Sonic Mania.
Frontiers was great, but it has to be said. Sonic x Shadow Generations has been the most polished, high-octane, and fun Sonic game for years. But, in the eyes of the TGA’s, that wasn’t enough to get a mention.
Perhaps it was because the game was short, or perhaps it was partly a remaster of older content. But considering the nominees among the pile, that would be pretty rich, now wouldn’t it?
1STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl
Truly An Anomaly
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl
Okay, so we are cheating a little for this final one, as the nominees were decided before this one was released.
But, to be fair, the TGAs decide the date they want to release nominations, and they have access to the same release schedule as us. Would it have really hurt to wait and see how STALKER 2 faired?
To be fair, based on the TGA’s track record, STALKER 2’s mixed critical reception would have probably been enough to put them off anyway. But the fans have taken to this one in their droves, and its easy to see why.
STALKER 2 offers incredibly realistic gunplay, one of the most punishing, alienating, and bizarre open worlds in existence, and has a worthwhile story to tell. Sure, it’s a little janky in places, but if over 100,000 concurrent players could look past that, I’m sure the TGA’s could have.
I guess the proof will be in the pudding if this game pops up in next year’s nominations, but I wouldn’t bank on it.
Want to see what we fought of the polarizing title that is STALKER 2?Have a look right here!
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