The Game Awards nominees were revealed today, a collection of categories and community votes to determine the best of the best. Of course, it should be noted that several organizations award “Game of the Year” designations and the like, but Geoff Keighley’s event keeps growing bigger and bigger every year. It is, even now, one of the most authoritative organizations for these awards, with the event being coupled with major world reveals every year too.
There are a ton of good games that came out this year, and it’s not an enviable position to have to declare, from these nominees, what comes out on top. Games like Deathloop, It Takes Two, and more are scattered across several categories, yet there are some without a single nomination. Snubs, seemingly increasingly, are prevalent and inevitable at organizations like this, and it seems, for this year, Tales of Arise has been snubbed.
Tales of Arise, Game Awards, and Other Nominees
Deathloop received 8 nominations, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart received 4, Psychonauts 2 received 4, and Returnal and Kena received 3 each. Tales of Arise, on the other hand, only received one for best RPG, which is an awesome category but just about the most generic category Tales of Arise could be nominated for. The question of why seems moot now, but it stands to reason that Tales of Arise’s status as a JPRG played a role in its one, sole nomination.
Outside Final Fantasy and now Persona, JRPGs are not that popular in the west. That’s a bit self-explanatory in the fact that Tales of Arise (as well as FF16) made smart moves to westernize their entries, but the fact remains it’s always an uphill battle for solid JPRGs. Whatever the rationale behind this many votes, it seems clear that Tales of Arise should have had a much stronger presence at The Game Awards. On Opencritic, for example, it has a top critic average of 87 (in a year with very few new 90+ games) and has a recommendation rate of 99%.
What Tales of Arise Should Have Been Nominated for at The Game Awards
The ship has sailed, and all fans of the franchise can do is fester. But, for the sake of argument, it’s worth looking at other categories that the game could have, in theory, been nominated for outside Game of the Year.
- Best Narrative – Tales of Arise tells a very mature story, surely wrapped in similar JRPG themes, but one that is realized fully by its character, their roles in life, and the oddity of social structures. It isn’t afraid to tackle difficult themes, and that should have landed it here.
- Best Game Direction – Tales of Arise blends maturity, classic Tales and modern RPG elements, Sci-Fi themes, fantasy ideas, and hints of westernization with enough JRPG influence to keep it grounded. Very few games combine so many ideas together so well, and it’s a unique direction worthy of applause. By definition, Tales of Arise is every aspect of Best Game Direction’s “outstanding creative vision and innovation in game direction and design,” even when compared to this year’s heavy hitters here like It Takes Two and Deathloop.
GOTY, Best Narrative, Best RPG, and Best Game Direction would have given Tales of Arise the same presence of Ratchet and Clank, as well as Psychonauts 2. This feels deserved. Meanwhile, even ignoring GOTY since it is such a vast category, it could have and should have been on the same level as Returnal and Kena. If PS5 or Xbox Series X owners haven’t played Tales of Arise, well, it’s a must-play for 2021.
Tales of Arise is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.