Our journey continues with more categories to fill out before The Game Awards announces its full list of nominees come Monday! Yesterday we tackled Best Game Direction, Best Art Direction, Best Indie, Best Fighting and Best Mobile Game. You can see and discuss out results here.

Today we're going further into TGA's list of categories and will be looking at Best Narrative, Best Score & Music, Best Ongoing, Best Action Game & Best Family. Remember, we're compiling games we think will be nominated, not games we personally found the best this year. Let's get cookin'!

Best Narrative

Awarded for outstanding storytelling and narrative development in a game.

Baldur's Gate 3

Developer: Larian Studios

Quote From Echo

Baldur's Gate 3 goes above and beyond with its narrative, starting off at a relative fast pace and sparing no time to bring that to a crescendo. While some plotlines seem disconnected at first, Baldur's Gate 3 slowly builds an interconnecting web between them all to make a wonderful main plot. Even beyond the main storyline, every corner of the map has a new crew of characters to meet to the point where its impossible to see a good chunk of the game on the first playthrough. Combine all this with the hundreds of subtext and foreshadowing sprinkled throughout the earlier acts and you have an stunning narrative that simply must be played multiple times.

Final Fantasy XVI

Developer: Square Enix

Quote From Nirast

Final Fantasy XVI finds itself in a very interesting position. While there's still a large cast of characters for the player to get acquainted to, the fact that there's really only one playable character means that the game can focus more on just Clive Rosfield and his reationship with the world at large and bit- I mean, really nice mother. The game is set in a more traditional fantasy setting than more recent titles in the series, with a focus on the politics of various kingdoms in the world and how all of them use people like Clive and nothing more than tools to achieve their goals. All of this wrapped up nicely with some spectacular kaiju battles.

Sea of Stars

Developer: Sabotage Studio

Quote From Nirast

Set in the same universe as The Messenger, Sea of Stars follows Zale and Valere, two Solstice Warriors, and Garl, their "not chosen one" friend, as they embark on a journey to save the world from evil. The game's narrative takes inspiration from the great RPGs of the NES era, while also having its own twists and turns. The world is very unique, with all sorts of colourful characters that are often not what they seem, and the world is filled with various little corners of people with their own tale to tell. The game isn't as joke-y as The Messenger was, though you'll find yourself in plenty of absurd situations on your journey.

The Expanse: A Telltale Series

Developer: Deck Nine

Quote From Noxious

This game serves as a prequel to The Expanse, the TV show, which is adapted from The Expanse, the book series. Served over five episodes, the story carefully nestles itself in the extended universe and depicts the backstory of one of the series' major characters - Captain Drummer. While you'd get more out of the story if you'd watched the show or read the books, the narrative still stands on its own two feet and delivers a well-paced, interesting and refreshing adventure for the 'walking simulator' genre.

Best Score & Music

Awarded for outstanding music, inclusive of score, original song and / or licensed soundtrack.

Hi-Fi Rush

Developer: Tango Gameworks

Quote From Echo

Considering the game's entire theme ties into music, Hi-Fi Rush has both a killer licensed soundtrack, as well as a streamer-friendly variation that still instills the same feelings that the licensed songs convey. Every song does a great job at further building the world around it as well as amping the player up. So much of Hi-Fi Rush's identity is tied to its soundtrack just being nonstop hit after hit, and it does a great job at keeping the momentum going even during the downtime in a level.

Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon

Developer: FromSoftware Inc.

Quote From Noxious

Props to Kota Hoshino, Shoi Miyazawa and Takashi Onodera. Armored Core VI's soundtrack sticks to the game's strong themes through and through, with an oscillating mix of bangers and… well, the opposite of bangers, those songs that chill you out for a bit. Tortured synths, war drums, wailing guitars and an ethereal chorus all come together to form the perfect atmosphere for mech battles on the surface of a heavily exploited planet. Few can capture the fleeting desperation or mech combat as well.

Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical

Developer: Summerfall Studios

Quote From Nirast

Making a musical is already hard enough. Shoving that musical into a video game format is even harder. Having branching paths WITHIN THE SONGS?! If that's not enough to give this game the award, then the fact that the vocals and instrumentation are also absolute bangers surely should do the trick. Big props to Journey composer Austin Wintory, pop singer Montaigne, and musical trio Tripod.

Sea of Stars

Developer: Sabotage Studio

Quote From Nirast

Composed by Yasunori Mitsuda of Chrono Trigger fame, the music in Sea of Stars evokes the day of SNES soundtracks while being a modern piece of audio greatness. There's a great variety of moods, from relaxing to exhilarating, still playing in your head after you've closed for the day. There's also A LOT of tracks, ensuring things don't get repetitive while you're on your quest.

Final Fantasy XVI

Developer: Square Enix

Quote From Nirast

If we had to describe the OST of Final Fantasy XVI in one word, it would be "epic". Masayoshi Soken delivers a great mix of songs that make you feel sad, excited, or invincible, all depending on what the situation calls for. He's also the main composer for Final Fantasy XIV and its expansion, and that talent is on full display with this title as well.

Best Ongoing

Awarded to a game for outstanding development of ongoing content that evolves the player experience over time.

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight

Developer: Blizzard Entertainment

Quote From Noxious

It is perhaps absurd to consider a 19-year old game could be nominated for Best Ongoing. What's more absurd is thinking that, after almost two decades, World of Warcraft can still surprise and deliver an excellent experience that shows the game is nowhere near done. Its most recent and current expansion, Dragonflight, has been a return to form in more ways that one. Its first year live has been a tremendous effort to modernize the core aspects of the game (flying, time investment, gearing & more) while still managing to deliver a boatload of content on a steady cadence of every two months. In many ways, Dragonflight may be World of Warcraft's best expansion from purely a gameplay perspective, although we're sure the subscriber numbers don't yet reflect that. Much went wrong with its previous two expansions, but Dragonflight has somehow managed to make most of its players forget the horror of Shadowlands ever happened.

Fortnite

Developer: Epic Games

Quote From Noxious

Listen. Fortnite is not slowing down. Just a few days ago, it had its biggest day ever, 5 and a half years after it launched, hosting 44.7 million players in 24 hours during its current throwback season that brings back old eras of the game. Say what you will about battle passes with bland cross-promotional skins or your favorite weapon being removed from the loot pool, but Fortnite is still provides players with an excellent time and this year has been no different.

Genshin Impact

Developers: miHoYo, Shanghai Miha Touring Film Technology Co., Ltd.

Quote From Noxious

This one always gets nominated, right?

Apex Legends

Developers: Respawn Entertainment, Panic Button Games

Quote From Noxious

Remastered classes, a weapon progression system, innovative legend reworks and so many playlist and map changes we're not sure if they're keeping the game fresh or just panicking. Apex Legends has had a good, steady year and it's still firmly rooted in the zeitgeist that we expect it to get a nomination this year as well.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Developer: Nintendo

Quote From Nirast

Getting ported to Switch was the best thing that could've happened to Mario Kart 8. It went from the second lowest selling game in the franchise to the best, by a very large margin. And Nintendo only made the game better, by releasing DLC and adding 48 new courses and 4 new characters split over 6 Wave, starting in March 2022 and just finishing this month. The cherry on top, all this content is included in their online service (at the highest level), so it's more accessible for a wider number of players.

Best Action Game

Awarded for the best game in the action genre focused primarily on combat.

Hi-Fi Rush

Developer: Tango Gameworks

Quote From Echo

While Hi-Fi Rush's fights first play out like a rhythm game, it soon evolves to play more similar to a game like Devil May Cry, where swapping between different moves and assists to properly handle different enemies is vital. While chaining combos is already incredibly satisfying due to the grappling hook allowing you to juggle enemies way past their normal health bar, the onscreen combo meter and the ranking after every combat makes it go above and beyond.

Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon

Developer: FromSoftware Inc.

Quote From Noxious

We've already nerded out over its awesome vibe, art direction and soundtrack, but Armored Core VI's gameplay deserves recognition as well. Its fine-tuned pacing coupled with excellent moment-to-moment combat design make it a strong contender for Best Action Game. What's more, once you finish the game the action isn't over, as its New Game Plus re-run unlocks a whole 'nother chunk of content that isn't even available the first playthrough! Seriously, if you're looking to get into the "mech" genre, this is a great starting point.

Spider-Man 2

Developer: Insomniac Games

Quote From Nirast

If ever there was a character that was tailor-made for video games, it's Spider-Man. The web-swinging is an amazing mode of transportation, the superhuman strength allows for great combat, and the spider-sense is so video game-y, even Batman stol- uhm, borrowed it. Spider-Man 2 delivers on all these fronts and more, offering an engaging story with a lot of great set pieces and smooth pacing in terms of difficulty. 

Resident Evil 4 Remake

Developer: Capcom

Quote From Nirast

The Resident Evil series always had action elements ingrained in its DNA, but that action really started to get emphasized with the 4th entry in the series. RE4 is famous for its set pieces and insane story, and while the remake tones down some of the sillier elements, it modernizes the original, offering its own experience that doesn't invalidate the original, ensuring both sit side-by-side. Also, you can now block a chainsaw with you knife.

Best Family

Contrary to popular belief, awarded for the best game appropriate for family play, irrespective of genre or platform, not for the best human family of the year.

Super Mario Wonder

Developer: Nintendo

Quote From Nirast

Playing a Mario game alone is a fun and enjoyable experience. Playing a Mario game with friends is the very definition of chaos, and the worst way to get any progress in the game! If you want to have a nice family outing or just spend time with friends, grab a few joy-cons and go crazy. The more, the merrier (up to 4 players).

WarioWare: Move It!

Developer: Intelligent Systems, Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development

Quote From Nirast

Quick, grab that guy by the nose! Now clean that stain! Now toss this ball! Hurry, before- aww, too late. The WarioWare games are the kings of micro-game action, and move it is no exception, putting the motion capabilities of the Switch to the forefront. Grab a few buddies and see who can Move It better.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2

Developer: Fair Play Labs

Quote From Nirast

Yes, co-op games are fun, but not nearly as fun as (virtually) beating the snot out of each other! And doing it using cartoon characters from your childhood makes it even better. It's no Smash Bros, but it does let me clobber Spongebob.

Pikmin 4

Developer: Nintendo

Quote From Noxious

This is about as wholesome as it gets, folks, and we all know wholesome = family = The Fast & The Furi– something like that. Pikmin 4 has it all - a cute story, cute art, cute characters, a whole lotta' content and is an all-around vibrant and fun experience. Bonus points: It's really easy to pick up, which means it caters to both small children and the ancient humans who have the capital to acquire this game for the benefit of their family. Did you know this is technically a real-time strategy game, as in RTS, as in Warcraft III or Stormgate? How the turn tables!

Two down, two to go! We'll see you tomorrow with our next batch of pre-nomination nominees! Any good games we missed you think are likely to get a nom? Let us know in the comments below!