Awards season in the games industry is always an exciting time as fans get to see their favorite titles from the year be recognized and studios have the opportunity to win awards for their works. Yesterday, the Game Awards announced its official list of nominees and, while it captures plenty of this year's best games, some gaming fans can't help but feel like the Awards have snubbed one of this year's best: Returnal.
Returnal wasn't entirely forgotten about by the Game Awards, as it was nominated for three categories: Best Game Direction, Best Audio Design, and Best Action Game, but some can't help but feel like the game is missing from some categories where it could potentially be the clear winner. Awards, or the lack thereof, don't make a game better or worse, but it's always surprising when a game of such high quality like Returnal isn't recognized for its efforts. At the end of the day, more awards for Returnal won't inherently change anything about it, but it's important for games that break the traditional mold of what's popular in the industry to be praised so that they can pave the way for other titles to do the same.
Categories Returnal Was Snubbed From
As mentioned above, Returnal is certainly seeing some representation at the Game Awards, but it's still missing from several categories where it would likely do well. It's important to note that this isn't to say that there are undeserving games listed in any of the categories, but that Returnal is just as worthy for being nominated. The obvious pick for where many fans of the bullet-hell roguelike think the game belongs is the Game of the Year category, where it would be up against Deathloop, Metroid Dread, Psychonauts 2, Resident Evil Village, It Takes Two, and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. There are plenty of good arguments for why all those titles could deserve the award, but Returnal is certainly a strong contender with its perfect marriage of tense gameplay, gripping narrative elements, and masterful presentation.
The other category that Returnal seemed to be a shoo-in for that it was ultimately passed over in favor of other titles is Best Art Direction. Returnal features six different environments, with each one being completely unique from the rest, causing the game to be one of the most visually striking of the year in environment design alone. Pair that with the game's enemy design and attack patterns and it quickly becomes a stand-out for gorgeous visuals deserving of industry-wide recognition. Anyone who's played it can recall just how beautiful the alien world of Atropos is, and Returnal could have certainly won the Best Art Direction category if it were nominated.
The final two categories that Returnal should have been a contender for aren't shoo-ins for the game, but it certainly deserved to be a part of the conversation. Despite its more obtuse nature, Returnal could have been up for Best Narrative with the way that the game marries its story about trauma and PTSD with its punishing gameplay. The story isn't as straightforward as other nominees, but instead is told over the course of many runs like with other beloved roguelikes like Hades, but that shouldn't discredit its quality.
Jane Perry, who plays Returnal's main character Selene, could also have been nominated for Best Performance. As Selene is one of the only speaking characters in the entire game, Perry carries the narrative with her performance and should be recognized for it. She may not be as chatty as other characters that were nominated, but when Perry does speak as Selene, it's important and memorable.
Returnal is available now for PS5.