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Timestamps:
00:00 – Intro
03:22 – Disclaimer (I may have critical opinions in this video)
05:52 – Plague Tale Requiem
09:50 – Elden Ring
13:06 – God of War Ragnarok
17:11 – Horizon Forbidden West
19:30 – Stray
21:19 – Xenoblade Chronicles 3
21:45 – Conclusion
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It's a weird one this year because neaither game is the studios best work.
Sekiro is still Froms best game and GOW 2018 is still Santimonicas
Out of the 2 it makes more sense for Elden ring to win considering it was so highly anticipated and it takes the Souls games in a new open world direction, GOW was great but I have enough issues with it to the point I'm not willing to crown in the GOTY
Your opinion about Elden Ring sums up my feelings perfectly. One big thing I always felt about it was: a lot of the core principles that made previous games so appealing are entirely at odds with open world design. For example, Sekiro felt perfectly balanced and consistently difficult from start to finish. But you cannot perfectly balance Elden Ring, because the devs can’t control where you go in an open world. Allowing for unlimited freedom is contrary to the core design of “curated and balanced challenge” that is seen in every previous game.
My hopes are that the jury take this seriously… I agree with you that HZD deserves Game of the Year.
Do I see the issues with Ragnarok, but to be honest, I'm ignoring them because it's the sequel to my favourite game of all time. But it should have definitely been a trilogy.
I think god of war was better in every way than 2018, especially all the new amazing characters. I did not expect to love Thor so much
I really hope horizon wins some awards but I fear they may snub it, can't believe it wasn't nominated for best ost
Honestly Stray is my personal GOTY exactly because of all the things you said. I prefer smaller more focused games over the big over the top ones that most big studios usually release.
That being said, realistically speaking I am rooting for Elden Ring purely because I think it's game design and the philosophy behind it sets up a better precedent for the gaming industry than a game like GOW Ragnarok.
I very much look forward to your video about God of War ragnarok.
It’s honestly interesting to point out which things a sequel like that does right.
After 4 years the fact the lore of the final part of the game is put aside is honestly unacceptable to me. It was so vague too…. why did you even bothered to put that in the final release of the game if you didn’t really wanted to deal with it?!
I think a sequel has not to be a perfect sequel to be appreciated, it’s a clear thing you understand as a gamer when you play old video games saga you missed.
It’s not like every game has to be like Assassin’s creed 2 was and sometimes even an overall miss step of a game can be incredibly pleasant to play and memorable in its own way and even be a stepping stone for the next project.
In other words I would say to everyone to enjoy what’s good in GoWR and not be upset if it’s not a masterpiece or the ultimate experience of its kind.
I also honestly think hype and oversized too ambitious projects like this one are a very bad thing which has become a major issue in the past 10 years. This game had to be “Ragnarok” the end of everything, pull out every thing they could’ve for a single game. If it doesn’t come up as good as the 2018 game then I can only said I wished it was a much smaller thing, that game’s success was in its simplicity (story wise I mean).
I miss the time where you could have an action adventure to last less than 20 hours, not even Naughty dog and Santa Monica are doing that anymore. That’s a bit sad to me.
If a game had to have an open world, in what style would you make it? I personally find the intrinsic motivation of Elden Ring’s much more interesting than quest markers and a gps.
Also since I can tell you’re not an open world guy, what types of games do benefit from being open world?
I’m curious how recently you played GoW 2018? I played Ragnarok, then went back to 2018, and now I’m back playing Ragnarok and I really don’t see how you think it doesn’t hold a candle to 2018.
Sifu is underrated
19:17 I’m of the same opinion. For me, Horizon Forbidden West did what a proper sequel should do: Keep what worked from the original & improve on what didn’t.
While the main plot of the Zeniths is really out there & Regalla & her rebels feel like an afterthought, I did enjoy Aloy’s search for GAIA, getting to know the Utaru, Tenakth, & Quen, & Aloy’s own personal arc where she learns that she can’t save the world alone.
While I consider the plot weaker than Zero Dawn’s, the character writing is far better than Zero Dawn’s. In Zero Dawn, I only cared about Aloy & Sylens. In Forbidden West, this game made me care about Varl & Erend who I thought were okay in the last game as well as newcomers Zo, Kotallo, & Alva, & even Beta once we get to know her & understand where her pessimism comes from. I also liked how in some of the side quests you meet characters who are representative of the LGBT community & also those who are disabled & it doesn’t come off as preachy or forced, like Boomer who very likely has autism but the game doesn’t make a huge deal out of it.
For me, I hope it at least has a chance to win Art Direction because this game has amazing art direction & good use of color or even Ashly Burch winning Best Performance since she not only played Aloy but also Beta & Elizabet, 3 people who look alike but all feel incredibly different from each other that there were people who thought they were voiced by different people.
21:29 You really should play Xenoblade Chronicles.
I haven’t played Xenoblade 3 since right now I’m going through Xenoblade 2, but the first Xenoblade Chronicles has such a great story & a beautiful & unique world with a lot of memorable characters.
GOW was in all honesty a strange one for me too. I finished the entire game 100% but I still felt empty at the end, and I've been satisfied with uncharted 4s ending mind you. I really don't know if fans overhyped it or if the ragnarok event was too short. And while it has the best combat, gear and leveling felt much more quicker than 2018. Horizon felt like it was worth every penny for me, and I know that sounds bad but a new map, machines and goddamm machine strike was so good. Most npcs have such good personality too like that girl who keeps talking about explosions. It seems like ADHD but they never address anything to my knowledge. Such subtle writing for the player to figure out. I've seen countless videos of people predicting the winners and everyone ignores horizon or calls it a Zelda clone. Some haven't even finished or played it. I guess what I'm saying is that if you're going to judge a game fairly listen to its "long cutscences" and story of aloys arc before writing it off. Horizon won't win but to me it's game of the year.
Isnt surprising you think that way, youre only play a fromsoft sony exclusive, that speak a volume, a linear hand crafted curated elden ring experience, we had 3 title in form of dark souls, in the spawn more than a decade ago
For me, GoW 2018 hit better than Ragnarök because of two reasons:
First and foremost because it was fresh and new. The combat, visuals and story were fresh. By the time I played Ragnarök, I've had two playthroughs of 2018 behind me already and everything felt familiar.
Second I agree with you. The pacing of the story is better in 2018. Especially the end in Ragnarök is very fast-paced and a bit abrupt. Especially side questing and exploring feels off after the midpoint of the story. In my opinion it would've been better to move most of the side content to the endgame.
Overall though I think Ragnarök is a better game than 2018. There's much more variety in Gameplay and especially enemies and bosses. And combat seems better balanced (i.e. no invincibility during runic attacks).
I hope the next game will differ more and be at least a semi-new IP. The game design of GoW is stale for me by now.
I'd like to see some further improvements in Santa Monica's next game. The Leveldesign feels outdated and Backtracking was no fun for me.
That's a bold take on Elden Ring considering your very limited experience with other FromSoft games, but you're spot on. I'm a massive Souls fan and while I really liked Elden Ring I felt that it was probably one of their weakest entries. That's still a really high bar because as much as people like to meme on DS2, it's still a fucking great game. Elden Ring is the usual Souls formula expressed in a new way and that gave it a fresh coat of paint that people really vibed with. Once you play it extensively however, the paint wears pretty thin and the cracks begin to show. The foundations are still so strong that it's not a huge deal, but I just don't think it can compare to the pristine experience of Sekiro or Bloodborne.
That being said it's 100% winning GOTY
Living in Germany so the awards won't start till 1:30 Am 😢
Mi list goes:
1. Horizon Forbidden West.
2. Elden Ring.
3. God of War Ragnarok.
4. A Plague Tale Requiem.
5. Bayonetta 3.
6. Cult of the Lamb/Sifu.
Forbidden West is simply a superb masterpiece, the philosophy of "doing the stuff thats right better and improve in the stuff thats wrong to a point where its just as good" is the best possible for any sequel.
VOTE FOR STRAY, VOTE FOR CATS
I loved Ragnarok and for me it's my game of the year, even though I immensely enjoyed Elden Ring and that will most likely win. It'll be interesting to see your critique of Ragnarok as from everything you've said so far you're making some valid points and I definitely know I overlooked some of its weaker points because of the sheer hype and love I had for God of War 2018.
I cannot compare the feelings I had when I played Elden Ring and Ragnarok. Elden Ring was seriously amazing. I couldn't believe what I was playing. I saw the glee in my roommate's face after I recommended ER for him, and it was our first FromSoftware game. I knew then and there we were actually playing a special game. And that feeling was even heightened when we went down those wells and got smocked into traps. Goddamn.
Ragnarok was great. I didn't have that w0w feeling ER invoked when I played it. But I live for that scene with Sindri after Odin's incident.
Elden Ring deserves then win, easily!
Ragnarok was a big disappointment in the innovation section. So it doesn't deserve the crown of GOTY imo.
I would rather give it to Stray instead.
Red dead Redemption 2 is miles better than god of war 2018 yet god of war still won.
Elden ring isn't a great game( like Bloodborne) but it's still a good game that is so much better than Ragnarok.
Yet Ragnarok will still win. It's truly sad…
For me I think Elden Ring is overated. It is the superiority complex Fromsoftware's stan tend to have, we've seen it before. It is just the same games they've been making, just with open world, magic and horses. They still do vague story telling to avoid being called out, which for me indicate that they do not know how to tell good story. I hate that type of "Just leave to the player interpretation" story telling, it's so lazy.
What's the difference in the open worlds of ac Odyssey and horizon forbidden West? .. BTW the maps full of markers and checklists, am i missing something? 😂
i think elden ringles will win
This was a great year for gaming. So much to look forward to and all of them delivered and most (Not Forbidden West 😓) exceeded our expectations. And having 2 indie games in this category is a win, just people making stuff with pure passion and being recognized and praised for their art. Though Elden Ring is in a class of its own 🐐
Elden Ring pushes gaming 10 years forward and games like God of War Ragnarok holds it back. Video games trying to be movies with “cutscenes” and “story” and “acting” feels archaic and traditional. Video games are video games, pretending to be a movie just loses its IDENTITY.
Elden ring is boring to me my favs in this cat are GOW Ragnarok and A Plagues Tale Requiem.
The older and more mature I get the more I appreciate your content and your critical thinking. Good video 👍
I think Horizon: FW is probably going to come in second or third place in tons of categories. I think it would be my pick for Best Graphics, but I think they will give that to God of War.
I can see why both Elden Ring and God of War: Ragnarok are considered to be the main candidates that could win. For me I could see the numerous strengths of God of War, but it came down to fairly rotten difficulty tuning for the No Mercy and God of War difficulties, which felt incredibly cheap and frustrating rather than challenging and fulfilling. I was thinking more of final boss of a fighting game cheapness than feeling enthralled for finally conquering a difficult enemy I'd struggled with for hours. I'm sure most leave it on Balanced or Games Journalist/ Story difficulties and don't care about this.
I'd have to give the win to Elden Ring. I've spent nearly 1100 hours playing that game and have about 9 characters. It was a real treat to play, and if DLC arrives I'll be jumping into that later with my various builds. I'm still quite irritated that I have to keep screwing with mods for it to properly fit my screen and on top of that go offline so the ultrawide mod doesn't get me banned, but as far as the actual game itself it's a spectacular game across the board.
Just like you bet on Red Dead Redemption 2 beating God of War in 2018. 😂🤣🤣🤣
Something wrong with the music at the end
If sci-fi cat game wins this one out of left field, that would shock the entire internet.