All Time Favourite
Undertale is the closest I believe video games and humanity as a whole has come to perfection. An absolutely razor sharp, tightly paced, extremely innovative and highly replayable 6 hour experience that never gets old no matter from what way I engage with it. The combat mechanics are a beautiful symphony of variety and depth, the visual are often an extremely underrated aspect of the game that are perfect for everything Undertale thematically embodies, bosses have amazing attack patterns and sense of progression that feels both high stakes and very personal and I don't think their has ever been a better cast of character or story every crafted. It brings genuine tears to my eyes and sometimes when I'm down, I just think of how lucky I am to exist in a world which Undertale does and I am filled with determination.

Favourite series
I don't think another series of games has completely cannibalised my time and my life more so then Smash has. The core mechanics of super smash bros are just so incredibly genius that its a miracle that it even exist in the first place, taking the best of movement mechanics from platform fighter and various other technical fighting game mechanics (yes even something like wavedashing exists in virtua fighter, KOF and tekken (kinda lol)), and combining them to create an endlessly replayable compulsion loop which I haven't gone a day without playing since 2008. I genuinely like all of the game, but simultaneously all of them pale in comparison to melee, which has Everest high technical mechanical peaks and is the only game were it feel like my brain and the controller are in sync with one another. An expressive masterpiece where anything feels possible.

Best Soundtrack
I'm not giving one game multiple catagory wins, otherwise Undertale would sweep at least half of these awards, so beside that and two other game which better fit other categories, Cave Story takes this one pretty convincingly. The fact that Pixel had no musical experience before Cave Story is truly an anomaly, as the way in which he craft extremely memorable melodies with the perfect degree of instrumentation and packing each song with so much emotion is mind boggling. Balcony, Mimiga village and the final boss themes are some of the most memorable melodies to ever enter my ears and fill me with such impactful emotions of tranqulity/introspection, homeliness and determination respectively. I don't know much about music, but the way in which these composition make me feel is incredibly powerful and I recommend a listen to the entire thing.

Best Protagonist
I know its a bit of a meme to say that a character is literally you, but I've never felt so effectively deconstructed and comforted then I have navigating through a small snapshot of Siffrin's life. The expert way in which Adrienne embroils Siffrin with endless amounts of relax and chilled charm on top of the magnificent deconstruction of anxiety, particularly social anxiety, self-doubt and the feeling of being stuck in a proverbial loop is second to none. Never in my life have I just been confronted with a character that feels like they plugged a USB in my brain and downloaded of my mental anguish and distilled it into a character who reacts to this so similarly to me and then say that its okay and provides actual help and answers to my problem. I go into more depth into my steam review of the game, but even from a non-personal technical point of view the dialogue and way Siffrin character progresses second to none, truly an outstanding accomplishment as typically I don't really even like most protagonist in fiction lol.

Best Antagonist
Okay this one is like impossible to talk about without spoilers, so leave no if you haven't played Omori yet, sorry. Anyways, you know whose build up and eventual crescendo as the games antagonist was perfectly paced and an emotional gut punch once you realise (or once its revealed). Its simultaneously shocking, whilst putting a lot into perspective about every element of the headspace world and re-contextualised these interpretations of these characters in you know whose head and explains the demeanour of another mostly mysterious and ingenious absent characters in the headspace portions of the story. It may have so logical fallacy, but at least to me, the sheer amount of thematic weight and implications that this twist carry greatly exceed these minor grips and makes for a villain that feel more personal and poignant then anyone else in the medium.

Best Story
Once again, Undertale aside, Earthbound story is one of showcasing the transition of childhood to adulthood and one of sentimentality. However, what I like most about Earthbounds story is the way that it is told. No other story this good and this emotional has really ever been told in a similar way since. Just existing in the world, interaction and participating in the various slice of life escapades of the resident of eagle land paints such a vivid and extremely memorable and emotional tone of weird yet warm in your mind and heart. It's one of the best thematic showcases of just growing up, learning of the darkness of the world, but also through the exploration of the world making invaluable connection and experience beautiful moment of life. Its one of the best distillation of life during that weird and wonderful period of your life where you start to grow up and I think seeing that proverbial flower blossom is inspirational.

You love, yet everybody else hates
I just straight up don't understand the modern day perspective of disliking Sonic greatest outing possibly ever. The way in which Sonic simple yet endlessly fun and dynamic momentum based mechanics interact with the level design, which feel tailor made for people greatly accustomed with the Sonic series to provide the maximal amount of joy, truly showcases just how deeply the team behind this game get classic Sonic. Whilst in isolation level element feel scattered and cluttered inconveniently, in unison they create for a highly dynamic experience that launches you from different part of the level to different part of the level, which I personally prefer to the straight forward up, down and middle routes that more acclaimed Sonic games have. Also the audiovisual aspects of this game are near perfect and overall create a very distinct and endlessly replayable experience that undeservedly gets bashed.

Best Looking Game
Simply put, as someone who has been obsessed with cartoon aesthetically since the dawn of time itself, the sheer visual craftsmanship and effect pour into every cell of Cuphead really blows me away everytime. The classical way in which limbs exaggerate, enemies and characters ebb and flow as well as the amazing character design and background art cement this game as something I constantly refer back to when designing my own character art/animation. Its the kind of game that I total get someone watching a let's play for in addition to play it, as just soaking in all of the animation detail and little nods to cartoon of yesteryear make me as a sponge for this kind of animation autism feel an intense set of passion, joy and inspiration. Plus the adherence to traditional art for most of the process is a really bonus in my books as someone who prefers the traditional medium. Putting anything else in this spot would frankly be an insult, its fucking Cuphead.

Childhood Game
Good Lord, one note of some of these tracks brings tears to my eyes. Platinum maybe in the childhood game categories as I've 999 hours this shit multiple time in both the single and double digits, but this is also a standing achievement of Pokemon and RPG's as a whole. Pokemon's battle mechanics have always been one of my favourites across any RPGs just for the sheer degree of strategy, variety and personality embroiled into each and every monster, but the balance changes introduced in this gen and the physical special splits being some of the best progressions of this core formula. Platinum however particularly excels in its level design with the interconnectiveness of the world and multiple pathways of the routes leads to a small but good variety of different outcomes each time you traverse them. Also, I'm not total nostalgia blind, Diamond would have been here if not for its slow speed and lack of fire types lol. Overall, amazing game that I have a deep connection towards as Pokemon is also the reason I know a lot of my closest friends to this day.

Relaxing Game
Okay so this is a weird one for relaxing, but Yume Nikki at 3am with soundproof headphones in a dark room provides for a more transcendent, atmospheric and immersive experience then any other piece of media possibly ever. To me at least, this like a one man art exhibition, except if the artistic made the entire building and world around it to. The fascinating world of Yume Nikki's dreamscapes is something so vividly imaginative and spookily disturbing that it not only really inspired the way I think about the aesthetic space and visual aspects of a level in a video game, but also like inspired the visual craftmanship of so many beloved RPGmaker game. Seriously, I think people forget how innovative this was, pushing the game as a medium for storytelling by essentially draping a blanket of abstract imagery over the player and allowing for their own mind to determine the mental state of Madotsuki and it is this aesthetic of meaning being painted in my mind on top of the excellent and darkly zen music that makes it so relaxing to me at least...

Best Combat and Enemy Design
As technology progressed in game, it continually surprised me how games that really ramp up the enemy count never really took off (the 17000 Dynasty Warriors game aside). However, Magenta Horizon not only has a moveset with the complexity and fun of some of the best character action games, but also is a shining example of enemy design in video games as a whole. Not only does the game give you a high degree of complex enemies that synergistically work off of each other ensuring no two encounters are the same in cramped but well balanced and designed areas, but also does this whilst incentivising a constantly satisfying and multifaceted offensive playstyle that consistently has you switching in and out different strategies making it essentially action game Nirvana. I could literally play any level, at anytime and not only have a different experiencing each time, but for each of those experiences to be highly dynamic in nature due to the excellent combat system and way it effortlessly works with and off of the amazing enemy designs.

Best Scoring System
Man, I really wanted to sneak a shmup onto hear since I've been playing a bunch recently and Garegga's pure organic barrage of bullet really pushed it over the edge as my favourites. Their are a deluge of good review both on here and youtube (by peeps such as the electric underground) on how the scoring system works, so I'll just detail why I like it here. Unlike most shmups, less so endlessly practise specific parts of levels and constantly repeat a perfect scoring run, Garegga is extremely organic in the way scoring is delegated, with the difficulty modulation and its ties to death in particular making for a really interesting player game dialogue. No two run through of one of the seven level never feel the same, with infamously high scores not even knowing at certain points where points came from due to the sheer complexity and dynamism of the scoring system at hand. Top this off with top tier presentation, amazing bullet patterns and enemy placement as well as some bangers, its no wonder Garegga has the reputation it has amongst the shmup community (and myself lol).

Consistent Achiever
When it comes to the 18 games I've awarded a 10/10, Demon's Souls may very well have the least flaws out of all of them. Introducing the masterful combat system that the first two souls game play so well into (especially the dynamic way in which the defensive mechanics function and are balanced) as well as having the best boss line up in possible any game ever, a deeply meaningful narrative, amazingly dense level design and consistently fantastic aesthetics, that draw the player into its fantasy world (particularly the music, I love this soundtrack more then nearly any other), its parts are of masterclass quality. However, the way in which they are held together, the phenomenally immersive glue that permeates each of these elements and give the world of Demon's Souls an untouchable quality of feasibility, is what really elevate the overall product. Its a thunderous roaring of innovation that has hooked its talons into not only myself, but clearly the games industry as a whole, being a sleeper candidate for the video game canon, alongside game like Ico and the next game I'll talk about on this list.

Outstanding Achievement of the Medium
Whilst Undertale is my favourite game, if I were to give the Gods one game that encapsulated why I personally love video game, Rain World would be my prime candidate. Its simply a masterpiece in every way you look at it. Effortlessly crafting one of the best movement systems in any game with the dynamism of the in game physics engine leading to every action and combination of action having an appropriate and satisfying reaction. Crafting the most dynamic enemies in any game, like ever, with the sheer degree of complexity given to every creature being akin to a real life ecosystem of creatures. Level design so good and memorable that it render the map functionality useless, as each region is concocted with such care that you WILL remember it even after roaming through it only briefly. Add to this the best pixel art I've ever seen, backgrounds so detailed that some have over 30 layers of unique art, underpinned by a narrative told strictly through gameplay that touches on the nature of the human condition on top of various allusion to neo-spiritualism that brought me to a state of awe akin to how the first people to summit Everest must have felt. This game is the crowing achievement of the medium of video game, and every way you analysis Rain World you will get in return a beacon of genius game design that should be past down from generation to generation. This is how you make a goddamn video game.