UPDATE: God of War Ragnarok won Innovation in Accessibility at The Game Awards 2022!
The Game Awards 2022 marks the end of another year for video games. With over 30 categories at this year’s show, The Game Awards is looking to celebrate the best 2022 had to offer in terms of gaming, crowning winners for the Best Narrative, the Best Multiplayer title, and of course, theGame of the Year. The Game Awards is likely to bring fans some big reveals, too, as the pattern from previous shows has displayed that among the awards there’s also space to unveil new titles and give more details on upcoming releases.
Even with some hype around the potential reveals coming at this year’sGame Awards, the show’s focus is primarily on the awards it is giving out. One of these prizes is Innovation in Accessibility, which recognizes games that seek to let a greater amount of gamers enjoy them through adding helpful features and content. Accessibility has improved a lot in 2022, with some major titles giving more fans a chance to enjoy them and helping grow their audience. The list of nominees for the Innovation in Accessibility award is stacked with great games, but only one can win on the night.
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As Dusk Falls
The debut game from London-based developer Interior Night,As Dusk Fallsis an interactive, narrative adventure game that follows a multi-generational story around the Walker and Holt families who meet through unexpected circumstances in the Arizona Desert.As Dusk Fallswas made available on Xbox Game Passand praised for its emotive use of narrative and how the player’s choices genuinely impacted the story they were playing through.
As well as incorporating an interesting crime drama story,As Dusk Fallsalso comes with a lot of accessibility features including Menu Narration, Gameplay Narration, Extended QTE timers, on-screen UI and more. This allowed the game to be enjoyed by a lot more people, which helpsAs Dusk Falls’unique style of multiplayer, as it allows everyone to be as clued in on what’s going on with the game to help make the right choices in important decisions.
God of War: Ragnarok
The second and final entry inKratos' Norse saga,God of War: Ragnarokties together all the threads created by the first game, sending the god of war and his son Atreus into a fast-paced adventure where they must face off against the most powerful Aesir gods.God of War: Ragnarokhas received rave reviews since it launched, but while it is an impressive game on its own, it has also incorporated some great accessibility features.
First outlined earlier this year before being fully revealed in a trailer in September,God of War: Ragnarokintroduces a bunch of extra options for those who need or want them. There are 60 available settings to changeGod of War: Ragnarokand make it more accessible, and these include allowing Auto Sprint, options to reduce motion sickness, and High Contrast Mode, which allows players to apply colors to items, characters, and more to increase their visibility.
Return to Monkey Island
After a long wait, fans finally got to see the long awaited return of Guybrush Threepwood as after over three decades theMonkey Islandseries' original creator Ron Gilbertmade his comeback.Return to Monkey Islandis a classic point-and-click adventure game that continues from the end of the last title in the franchise,LeChuck’s Revenge, and follows Guybrush as he continues his search for the secret of Monkey Island.
Return to Monkey Islandoffers some interesting changesfrom the series' previous games, and one of these major alterations comes in the addition of accessibility features. Split into three different tabs on the settings screen,Return to Monkey Islandallows for players to remove distortion and ship motion effects, influence the size and appearance of text, and slow down the speed at which subtitles appear.
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The Last of Us Part 1
Some fans were initially skeptical when it was announced thatThe Last of Uswould be getting a PS5 remake. While some are still unconvinced by the remake of the 2013 classic, especially after seeingThe Last of Us Part 1’sprice point, the game has done well in terms of sales and reviews, adding a lot to the initial experience that the first title provided. As well as enhanced graphics and gameplay,The Last of Us Part 1also made a point of making the game much more accessible this time around.
Three accessibility presets were made available inThe Last of Us Part 1, which allow combinations of assistance with vision, hearing, and motor functions. As well as these presets, players can tweakindividual accessibility options inThe Last of Us Part 1as well, allowing access to features like a screen radar to ping nearby enemies and additional audio cues for combat and traversal areas.
The Quarry
Coming from thedevelopers ofUntil Dawn,The Quarryis another eerie horror experience focused on supernatural creatures attacking a group of teenagers as they struggle to survive. Like Supermassive’sThe Dark Picturesgames,The Quarryfocuses on interactive storytelling that has each of the nine playable characters survive or die based on the decisions made by the player.
In terms of its accessibility options,The Quarryallows for adjustments to be made to its QTEs, which proves to be a big help when so much of the game is based around them. Moreover, there are colorblind settings for increased help with visibility and customizable control options for assistance with motor functions. While it might not boast the 60 options ofGod of War: Ragnarok, for example,The Quarry’sfeaturesdo support a wider audience for the game.
Final Prediction
Sony has been making great efforts to increase the level of accessibility in its games recently, and that has been made clear throughout the first-party titles fans have seen from the blue brand in 2022. Despite not making the list,Horizon Forbidden Westalso incorporated a lot of the accessibility featuresfound inThe Last of Us Part 1andGod of War: Ragnarok. Therefore, with these expansive new accessibility features, it could be either of the latter two games that takes home the award.
However,The Last of Us Part 1just seems to have a slight advantage in that its accessibility can be clearly seen when compared to the 2013 original. Thanks to the advancement of technology in the PS5,The Last of Us Part 1has benefited a diverse group of gamers, and stands a chance to win thesame award thatThe Last of Us Part 2did back in 2020. Still, with many expectingGod of War: Ragnarokto sweep The Game Awards, it might be the case that this is another trophy Santa Monica will be taking home.
MORE:How The Last of Us Part 1 Advances Accessibility in Gaming
