Most gaming awards look at big picture elements, considering the best game overall, best indie game, and best game of various genres. These sorts of awards are important reflections of the cultural consensus, but they don’t tell the full story - that’s where TheGamer Aces comes in.
Voted on by staff at TheGamer and our readers, TheGamer Aces examine smaller pieces of the big picture: Which game has the best character design? What was the best level of the year? Where did gaming excel in storytelling? Separated into three segments (Character, Presentation, and Parts), our 15 awards celebrate the best in all forms of gaming, and 2024 was full of games worth talking about.
Best Supporting Performance
John Eric Bentley (Barret Wallace, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth)
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth presents a tough crowd to stand out in, with so many of its cast delivering stellar performances. However, Bentley’s turn as Barret is well worthy of this award, balancing the macho exterior Barret carries himself with and the tenderness of his fatherly side, all while acting as occasional comic relief and shouldering one of Rebirth’s most moving arcs.
Troy Baker (Indiana Jones, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle)
Todd Howard was likely not alone in eye-rollingwhen Baker’s involvement in Indiana Jones was revealed. Possibly the most famous voice actor in video games, there was fear that Baker was stunt casting, furthering the oversaturation of his later career.
One stunningly accurate Harrison Ford impression later, Baker found depth and levity in his version of Dr Jones, and went from being the albatross that threatened to weigh the game down into the eagle that helped it soar.
Best New Character
Heismay (Metaphor: ReFantazio)
Much like Barret in FF7R, in Metaphor: ReFantazio characters need to impress in order to stand out. Heismay, recruited in the middle of the game after a tricksy boss battle and wrapped up in one of the game’s darkest conspiracies, delivers on that front. With an intimate, tragic arc about mourning the loss of his son, Heismay reminds us what we’re fighting for when we’re saving the world.
Best Character
Ichiban Kasuga (Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth)
Distinct from Best New Character in that this category is open to all characters (though last year both were won by new characters inBaldur’s Gate 3), Ichiban Kasuga returned from his debut inYakuza: Like a Dragonto offer an even more heartbreaking tale.
Ever the optimist,Ichiban is a role model of empathy, kindness, and ass-kicking all in one. With his English VA Kaiji Tang also up for Best Lead Performance, Ichi had a 2024 to remember.
Best Character Relationship
Ichiban Kasuga & Kazuma Kiryu (Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth)
Best Character Relationship is defined by relationships that are romantic, platonic, or antagonistic, and this passing of the torch from a Yakuza legend to the face of the future holds the weight of the entire series in its grasp. It only works because the two characters at its centre offer a broad emotional range, balancing tenderness and masculinity, reminding us that when something is worth fighting for, there’s nothing else to do but put up your dukes.
Best Character Writing
Mouthwashing
Mouthwashing only works if you buy into the trauma and melancholy of the five characters at its core. With nowhere to explore but the ship, this two-hour long horror game plunges you deep into the pain and dynamics of this quintet. They all need to be believable and terrifying for the game to work, and scooping up TheGamer Ace for Best Character Writing to go alongside its placement on our Game of the Year list, Mouthwashing’s certainly works.
Best Storytelling
It’s a double-header for the terrifying indie. It wins not just for its compelling story, but the way in which the story is told - nonchronologically and divided into a clear before and after split that builds tension in each scene byintroducing dreamlike frightsand keeping you guessing at every turn. With narrative techniques only the medium of video games could pull off, Mouthwashing is a story that is experienced, not told.
Most Unique Art Style
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
Most Unique Art Style is not just about which art style looks the best, or even the most different, but about which game uses a fresh and imaginative art style to help convey the tone.Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, with its fuzzy and unsettling monotone grey, punctuated only by puzzles and eyes aglow in an off-putting neon red, perfectly pulls you into the game’s mind-bending world.
Most Creative Gameplay Mechanic
Dragon’s Dogma 2 (Dragonsplague)
Few games were as bold asDragon’s Dogma 2last year, or as mean. It’s the kind of game TheGamer Aces is perfect for - when taken as a full package, it can get lost in a sea of other great titles. But when examining the ingredients, the flavour is clear to see. Or taste. Metaphorically.
Dragonsplague was a disease your pawns could catchin other worlds from other players, returning to you red-eyed and corrupted. Unchecked, they would explode into an eviscerating evil that could destroy towns and permanently devastate your entire campaign. It’s hard to imagine another game this large taking a risk this big.
Best Character Design
Metaphor: ReFantazio
Moving away from the writing side of characters, Best Character Design is focused primarily on aesthetics, meshing the game’s overall art style with the costuming, character appearance, and how these three work together to give the cast personality. Metaphor has to introduce a host of new races, while both humanising them and differentiating them from humans, and make its cast stand out. With a tough task in front of it, it offers up one of the most personality-packed fantasy figures gaming has ever seen.
