Yes, My GOTY Really is a Game, and It Should Be Treated as Such

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2025 was an incredible year for gaming, with fantastic titles like Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Hades 2, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. But even among those great games, Dispatch has really stayed with me. Some people don’t think Dispatch should be considered alongside those other titles, arguing it’s more like an interactive TV show than a traditional game. I disagree – I think it’s just as much a game as any of the nominees for Game of the Year in 2025.

I loved Dispatch from the moment I tried the demo earlier this year. As a big fan of story-driven, choice-based games like The Wolf Among Us and Tales from the Borderlands, Dispatch immediately caught my attention. It’s the only game I’ve played this year that I immediately wanted to replay, and it was through those replays that I discovered just how much depth and replayability Dispatch actually has – it deserves more recognition than it gets.

Minor spoilers for Dispatch ahead.

No, Dispatch is Not Just an Interactive TV Show

Image via AdHoc Studio

Everyone agrees that Dispatch is beautifully written and features excellent voice acting – these are key reasons for its surprising popularity and strong sales. However, strong writing and voice work aren’t exclusive to video games; you can find the same qualities in animated shows. This is why some people question whether Dispatch is a ‘true’ game, and whether it should be compared to titles like Hollow Knight: Silksong or Expedition 33.

Other Entries in the Interactive Movie Genre Have Won Big at Video Game Award Shows

It’s natural to compare Dispatch to the popular interactive story games made by Telltale, which came before it. This is because those earlier games were critically acclaimed and even won awards over more conventional video games.

  • Telltale’s The Walking Dead (2012) — Game of the Year, Spike Video Game Awards
  • The Wolf Among Us (2014) — Direction in a Game Cinema, NAVGTR Awards

In 2012, The Walking Dead won the Game of the Year award at the Spike Video Game Awards – a show that later evolved into The Game Awards. This win was significant because it showed that story-driven games, similar to interactive movies, could be considered among the best in the industry. Later, in 2014, The Wolf Among Us received nominations from both the D.I.C.E. and NAVGTR Awards, ultimately winning the NAVGTR Award for Game Direction in a Cinema setting.

Dispatch was a nominee for both Best Debut Indie and Player’s Voice at The Game Awards 2025, but unfortunately didn’t win either award.

Dispatch Goes Beyond the Formula of Games like The Wolf Among Us and The Walking Dead

While Dispatch shares some similarities with popular Telltale games like The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us – such as being released in episodes and featuring choices that impact the story – it’s a more developed game overall. Telltale games often had long gaps between episodes, sometimes months, but Dispatch aimed for a faster pace with two new episodes every week. Beyond that, Dispatch includes more role-playing elements than Telltale’s titles, offering gameplay that goes beyond just quick-time events and conversations.

Dispatch Can Be Broken Down into Two Distinct Experiences

Image via AdHoc Studio

Each episode of Dispatch really feels like two games in one: an interactive movie and a superhero team management simulator. The movie side is similar to games like Telltale’s, but I was really impressed by how complex the management simulator is. You don’t just pick heroes based on their stats; you also need to support them during missions and carefully build a team that takes advantage of the game’s synergy system and skill upgrades. This adds a strategic layer that you don’t find in narrative-focused games like The Walking Dead or The Wolf Among Us.

Dispatch Offers More to Players the More They Interact with the Game

While Dispatch lets you play without quick time events, I enjoyed having them on. Failing these events can unlock special scenes you wouldn’t otherwise see. For instance, if you mess up a quick time event during the bar fight in Dispatch Episode 5, Sonar and Coupe will surprisingly show up to help Robert – though it involves a rather unpleasant bathroom fight. I would have missed this if I’d turned quick time events off at the beginning of the game.

Fans love the management simulation aspect of Dispatch so much that they’ve been asking for an Endless Mode. I know I’d spend countless hours playing it, even after already putting in dozens of hours with the current game. Dispatch isn’t just an interactive story; its combination of branching narratives and detailed management gameplay makes it a complete and engaging video game with the depth and complexity to be considered one of the best of the year.

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2025-12-25 16:04