The Game Awards are just around the corner and the nominations are in. You can actually cast your votes right now for who you want to win across all 30 categories from Best Indie to Best Multiplayer and, of course, Game of the Year. A lot of 2021's games have picked up a lot of nominations and will likely take home a lot of awards. It Takes Two and Deathloop, for example. Not only are they both up for GOTY, but the two can be found in various categories across the board.

I'm not here to dissect what did make it and deserves to be there, though. I'm here to highlight which games from the past year didn't make the cut that definitely deserved to, and where better to kick things off than GOTY? If you're a frequent visitor to TheGamer then you'll know loving certain games is almost mandatory if you want to work here. You don't have to love Mass Effect and Dragon Age, but it helps.

Related: It's Okay To Say 2021 Hasn't Been A Great Year For GamesIn 2021, we added The Forgotten City to that list. The inspired title, which was born from a Skyrim mod, has not been nominated for GOTY. That I can almost understand, but it still hurts. For it not to even be nominated for Best Indie, on the other hand, is an incredibly bitter pill to swallow. Yes, it made the cut for the Best Debut Indie category, but when it was arguably the best game of the past 12 months, let alone the best indie, it really should be up for more awards.

Dragonborn Standing In Outer Area Of Forgotten City

While The Forgotten City stands a very good chance of picking up the one award it's up for, the same cannot be said of Lost Judgment. The terrific sequel to the Yakuza spinoff has been snubbed across the board. Granted, it was probably never going to land in the GOTY category, but there really should have been room for it somewhere. Perhaps a nomination for Best Direction or Best Narrative but no, nothing for Takayuki Yagami and his virtual Master System which deserves a nomination in itself, although that might just be the nostalgia talking. Persona 5 Strikers also missed out completely, while Hitman 3 picked up a sole nomination in the VR/AR category.

Cyberpunk 2077's launch almost feels like a lifetime ago now. However, since it launched at the tail end of 2020, after last year's GOTY awards, it qualifies for this year's round of nominations. Despite its rough launch and a rocky start to life, Cyberpunk is actually up for two awards. Best Score and Best RPG. I'm shocking myself a little with this, but I'm actually going to argue it should have been nominated for three. While Cyberpunk was far from great, Keanu Reeves' performance as Johnny Silverhand was terrific. You'll find no love for John Wick in the Best Performance category, though. It probably shouldn't be in Best RPG considering it didn't work at launch and barely works now, but given his popularity, it's a surprise Reeves isn't there. While it was a quieter year than usual for games, there was a lot of terrific acting. Stand out performances from Giancarlo Esposito in Far Cry 6, Erika Mori in Life is Strange: True Colours, Maggie Robertson as the already iconic Lady Dimitrescu in Resident Evil Village, and the pairing of Jason E. Kelley and Ozioma Akagha as Deathloop's Colt and Julianna mean Keanu misses out.

JohnnySilverhand

TGA's sports category always includes the usual suspects. FIFA 22 and F1 2021 are in there, and it's refreshing to see them joined by the likes of Forza Horizon 5 which is deservedly up for quite a few awards - it feels like it had a shot at GOTY, but that was not to be. No love for MLB 21: The Show though which is somewhat surprising. The latest installment was a breath of fresh air for the series and it deserves recognition for that. I'd also argue Knockout City should have made the sports cut, but I'll settle for a Best Multiplayer nomination even though it's highly unlikely it'll take that one home.

The Game Awards doesn't just look back on the year that was, but also the one that's about to begin. There's an award for Most Anticipated game slated to launch in the next 12 months and while all of the nominees probably deserve to be there, they're a little uninspired. Yes, Elden Ring and Starfield will be great, but we haven't even seen any gameplay footage of Starfield yet. Where's the love for Pokemon Legends: Arceus, a game that could change the way Pokemon games are made for years to come? Or Redfall, Arkane's latest game that's a way more compelling unknown than Starfield. We'll also be getting Bayonetta 3 in 2022 (hopefully). The anticipation for that among fans of the series is immeasurable. It's also disappointing not to see DC's Gotham Knights and Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League make the cut too, especially after Guardians of the Galaxy showed a bright new future for superhero games.

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