My Top Reveals from The Game Awards 2020

Okay, so this is a week late, but I wanted to let things set in, sleep on it, and see which announcements made the most lasting impact on me before saying anything.

Or I’ve just been busy with other stuff that had to take priority.

Pick whichever choice you like best, there’s a little truth to both.

Either way, with all due respect to Yogurt from Spaceballs, this is the main reason I tuned in and looked up from other stuff I was reading on my phone. And let’s face it, given the way so many of the awards themselves are presented, they know this very well, too.

These are in the order they appeared, unless I goofed on one of them.

*chanting* Something-something, something-something, SEPHIROTH!!!

Yep, that’s right. Once upon a time, I couldn’t have given an F about Sephiroth, but after sitting and watching my wife play through the remake of his big game earlier this year, I now give two — for Final Fantasy, of course.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I’ve become a huge fan of the franchise overnight or anything. But I certainly appreciate Final Fantasy VII more now than I did back when I wrote this, and I’m happy to have him and all his stabby-stabbiness along for the ride over in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (even if I was sorta rooting for Master Chief).

But hey, if Final Fantasy VII gets two characters and Street Fighter gets two characters, then I want some more Sonic the Hedgehog and Mega Man representation all up in, y’hear?

Perfect Dark is back

What do All Elite Wrestling on Tuesdays and the star of The Initiative’s upcoming game have in common?

They’re both Dark.

I don’t know what else to say here; I’m not generally an FPS guy, but I did enjoy what little I got to play of the original game on Rare Replay. But I know people have been longing for this series to return, and something about it coming back just feels right.

“You got your Cyberpunk in my Forza!” “You got your Forza in my Cyberpunk!”

Wait, no, it’s definitely the first one.

I haven’t been drooling over this thing for the last eight years like some people, but the promised experience (rather than the delivered, at least in the case of current-gen hardware [and no, I’m not counting Xbox Series X|S or PlayStation 5 as “current gen” until the number in actual players’ hands outnumbers that of those in scalpers’]) certainly looks nice.

That said, I like free crossover cars in my Forza, so here we are. I still need to add this to my garage and take it for a spin, but truth be told, my custom orange Warthog is probably still going to be my main ride of choice. Offroad, bay-bay!

It’s no Maximo, but it’ll do.

Ghosts ‘n Goblins is neat, but the last one came out in… wow, 2006? Yeah, Arthur was due. And it sounds like this one may have some modern amenities, as well as ideas cut from the original — like branching paths that have you play through the skipped levels on the second run, rather than just repeating the entire thing.

I’m interested.

Looking forward to booking some summer flights.

As I said before, I’m looking forward to this one because it strikes me as the aerial equivalent of Forza. Having a time frame for when it comes to console is good enough to make this list.

♫ Uh, evee-evil, evil… evee-evee evil… evee evil, evee-evee evil, evil… ♫

Hm, maybe I should shelve the “rewrite Will Smith’s Wild Wild West song for this game” project for now.

Anyway, this was the star of the show for me. Flying Wild Hog delivered a very appealing cinematic trailer for Evil West, and I am here for it.

Cowboy? Uh-huh, awesome. Fighting monsters? I’m down. Using a mechanical arm or gauntlet to channel your inner-Wolverine and Hulk urges? Sign me up!

My one concern was what type of game this actually is. Cinematic trailers can be for anything. This could be a turn-based strategy game, for all I know. I’d be down for that, actually, but what if it was something else, like an FPS? That would require a bit more caution on my part, seeing as I kinda suck at FPS.

Fortunately, it already has a page on Steam. Now, let’s see here…

Tags: “Action, Character Action Game, Beat ’em up.” Also, “Gore,” but obviously.

Oh yeah. If I’m understanding this right, this is something like Bayonetta and other Platinum fare I’ve gotten into over the last few years. Or Devil May Cry.

Perfect.

“I need a weapon. And a Big Gulp.”

Last, but not least, we have Master Chief in Fortnite. I can’t really call myself a proper Fortnite fan, as I’ve never played. I’ve been meaning to, however, and it’s been sitting on my drive for some time, just waiting for me to see if I like it. I did like what I played of PUBG, though, and I like the character designs and humor going on here. I just need to take some time to give it a shot. Maybe over the holiday.

Unfortunately, it sounds like the Chief might be fleeting, and he costs real money to get, or so I’m led to understand. I need to see if I even like the game first.

If nothing else, at least we got a funny trailer that made me smile out of it. I’m calling that a win.

And that’s pretty much it. I was supposed to write something else tonight, but got carried away when I started setting this up. Ah, well.

Thanks for reading!

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David Oxford is a freelance writer of many varied interests. If you’re interested in hiring him, please drop him a line at david.oxford (at) nyteworks.net.