The Game of the Year awards are well-valued awards, given to games that have exceeded the gaming expectations significantly. With the year coming to a close, now would be the great time to go over the games that might earn the title, Game of the Year.

HOLLOW KNIGHT: SILKSONG

Being the original successor to the indie game created by Team Cherry called Hollow Knight, Hollow Knight Silksong has you playing as the Hollow Knight’s half sister, Hornet. The goal of the game is to restore the haunted and lost kingdom of Pharloom.

On your journey, you get power-ups that are useful and even necessary to progress in the game. With over 200 new enemies and 40 new bosses, the game serves a genuine challenge for players while still making it possible, so it’s rewarding anytime you defeat a boss with a high difficulty. This game also includes an open-world that is twice as big as the original, which gives you much more space to explore.  This game is worth it for people who love a great adventure and fighting sequences. 

CLAIR OBSCUR: EXPEDITION 33

Another indie game created by Sandfall Interactive and inspired by France’s Belle Époque era, Expedition 33 takes place in the dark fantasy version of the Belle Époque era instead.

During this time period in this game, you and your group that you control take on Expedition 33 and set out to defeat the Paintress, (a being who causes the yearly Gommage.)  The Gommage is a phenomenon in the game that erases anyone above or at an ever-decreasing age.

While you are making your way towards the Paintress, you come across enemies that you have to fight in a turn-based style, making it interactive.

Along with real-time game aspects like quick-time-events, that require you to time your input at an exact moment to execute, also make it a challenge as well. And with an expansive map that even the developers thought was bigger than what they intended. The game is worth it for people who love an RPG-style fighting game and adventure.

HADES II

Being the sequel to the original Hades game released in 2020, Hades II, created by Supergiant Games, has you playing as Melinoë, the princess of the Underworld and the sister to the protagonist of the first game Zagreus.

This is a dungeon crawler game, meaning that you explore dungeons, fight enemies, avoid traps, and find loot. The goal of the game is to find and defeat Chronos, also known as the Titan of Time, because he returns for revenge on all gods and mortals who didn’t like him in the past and also took Melinoë’s family hostage.

Alongside your mentor Hecate, you travel through dungeons, fight monsters, and collect loot. With the plot being coherent and flowing through different combat styles, the game is great for people who love venturing through weird terrains and combat.

DONKEY KONG BANANZA

Being the prequel to Super Mario Odyssey, Donkey Kong Bananza is a platform game developed by Nintendo. In the game, you play as the gorilla Donkey Kong and similar to Super Mario Odyssey, it’s where you seek out Banadium Gems while exploring sandbox-like levels while completing missions, battling enemies, and finding loot. A special part about this game is its destructible environment, allowing you to break almost all terrain to find items and find secret paths.

The game’s visuals are high quality and stimulating. The gameplay is also very interactive because of the terrain-breaking feature as well. Its open-world exploration feature also allows you to explore a big amount of lands in the game. The game is great for people who love exploration and scavenging.