If you have not already listened to the podcast of this category, this is the final results, so this will spoil the course of the discussion on that podcast! Be warned!
We admit that it’s hard to talk about specific moments in media. Even the best, most prolific moments require mountains of context about the narrative or production history of a work that sometimes feels like dissecting a living thing to understand it, killing it. But sometimes a moment just sticks out so much that it’s impossible not to talk about. This category may change shape next year, but these moment represent things we couldn’t help but talk about.
The Winner
Get Out of the Car (Emio: The Smiling Man – Famicom Detective Club)
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. This is often deployed to talk about things like political policy, but it can also be thought about in the ways people go about their interactions with others. In Emio: The Smiling Man, you play a protagonist who’s goal is to get to the bottom of a murder of a young kid. Throughout the game, you find yourself in conversation with many people to help uncover the truth and bring the killer to justice. That is all well and good, but with that noble goal in mind it’s easy to push others too far. It’s one thing to have the satisfaction of getting the killer on the ropes and getting them to confess- murder mystery games love that moment. But it’s not often for a game like Famicom Detective Club to have a moment like this where you go too far, say things out of line, and really experience the ramifications of that action.
While driving in the car with Daisuke Kamihara, a detective on the force with a goofy and warm personality, you begin to ask some questions. You’ve made jokes with him and he’s generally been a very supportive person. But in this point of the story, the protagonist implies his superior officer, Junko Kuze, may have something to do with the murder. Throughout the game it’s clear that Kamihara has a lot of respect for Kuze, initially brushing off the questioning as nothing more then an interesting theory. But then as the player, you keep going. You keep digging, you keep implying this person he has so much respect for may have done something horrible, and the once affable Kamihara slams on the brakes and tells you to get out. This moment is not to imply that Kamihara is covering for Kuze or is himself suspect, it’s more a moment of the protagonist crossing a line and feeling the ramifications of that. Emio is a game full of surprising emotional depth about dark subject matter, and finds time to remind us that treating this sort of thing as a game to be won or a puzzle to be solved can be a painful and hurtful process that, if you do not respect the feelings of others, may end up backfiring. It’s a moment of emotional clarity that is well deserving of this award.
The Runners-Up
Hectic Extraction (Helldivers 2)
It’s one thing to make a moment happen within the context of a scripted story, or highly controlled game play beat. But how often do you see a moment happen every time you boot up a mission in a game, especially in Helldivers 2 which is a game that has such open-ended play? Well, simple. Funnel the experience to a single point on the map, ramp up enemy aggression, and make the players wait. The Extraction happens every time you and your group of rag-tag Helldivers complete the objectives, and it’s enthralling. The tense music ramps up as your group tries to survive a handful of minutes against swarms of enemies descending on your position. This moment can be a triumphant last stand or disastrous comedy of errors, and frequently oscillates between both extremes. It’s a wild time and it happens just about every mission in that game, and it’s hard not to recognize that success.
Shikikan Reunites with Kalin(a) (Girls Frontline 2)
Have you ever reunited with an old friend, only to see they have changed? There is this tense phenomenon that occurs when you haven’t spoken to someone in a long time, and so much has happened that it’s impossible to go back to the way things were. This is the case of Kalina, a once peppy and bubbly character that has been forced by circumstance to take on a role she doesn’t want to take on, and it’s partially the fault of the Shikikan (the player character). There is this real sense of Kalina wanting to put away the hurt and anger behind her, but still dealing with the complicated emotions of commanding respect from a former close friend. It’s a moment of surprising emotional depth and maturity for a character that, in the previous game, was an excuse to bug the player to buy stuff. The scene is tense because of simply having to deal with some pretty raw emotional baggage while recognizing the two need each other’s help, it’s a scene that really stood out to us in 2024.
That wraps up Moment, but be ready, as the second to last category approaches with Best Mechanic next time!
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