by Jayce Ham

November; what a month for gaming! Highly-anticipated releases, game awards nominations, and video game disappointments are all on the table for discussion this month.

God of War: Ragnarok is one of the most, if not the most, anticipated games in the last two years. Ever since the previous game came out in 2018, people have been foaming at the mouth waiting for a sequel. Fans were worried, however, that a sequel could not possibly measure up to the perfection that was the 2018 game. Luckily, fans were wrong, and the game exceeds every hope and expectation. To put it mildly, this game is a masterpiece. Highly regarded video game review site IGN gave the game a 10 out of 10 ranking which is rare for them. They only give that ranking to the best of the best games. Not only did the combat improve and become more vast, but the story was heart-wrenching, beautiful, and a perfect way to end the Norse saga. Complaints fans and critics had from the previous game, such as enemy variety and traversal, were addressed. The game has outsold the 2018 game and is nominated for game of the year for the 2022 game awards.

While I will not detail every nomination for every category of the 2022 game awards, I will discuss the nominations for Best Narrative, Best Indie, and Game of the Year. The nominees for Best Narrative are: A Plague Tale: Requiem, Elden Ring, God of War: Ragnarok, Horizon Forbidden West, and Immortality. The nominees for Best Indie are Cult of the Lamb, Neon White, Sifu, Stray, and Tunic. And finally, the nominations for Game of the Year are A Plague Tale: Requiem, Elden Ring, God of War: Ragnarok, Horizon Forbidden West, Stray, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3. The game awards air live at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT across all social, gaming, and digital platforms.

Unfortunately, with good news also comes bad news. Two games released this month have received much negative feedback, and people are questioning how much time and effort was actually put into them. The two games in question are The Dark Pictures Anthology: Devil in Me and Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. Both games struggle with many performance and graphics issues which make both games both hilarious and frustrating to play. I was hoping for much more with these two titles. Pokemon seems to have gone downhill with each passing year, with Game Freak caring less and less about putting a quality product.

While we ended on a negative note, the amazing games this month far outweigh the bad.

Jayce Ham is 29 years old and an ongoing contributor. With a love of all things nerdy, they are right at home covering entertainment.