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[CeeJay]

I chose option 3.

In this hypothetical situation, if both games are a draw in all other aspects and it turns out that technical superiority is the only differentiator then sure. Technical superiority to brake a tie is a perfectly acceptable way to pick a winner ALL ELSE BEING EXACTLY EQUAL.

However, I feel that you're question was framed in this convoluted hypothetical manner for GOW to win GOTY that it becomes stupid. There is next to zero chance that two frontrunners for an award cannot be otherwise separated. Also, the performance of Elden Ring is nowhere near bad enough to make it such an important differentiator. GOW will simply have to be a better game to win.

 

[LaughingStock]

What a joke of a thread.
I'm sure GoW will be a good game but there's no way it will have the same impact that elden ring did. And elden ring is very far from being a perfect game.
Oh, and technical aspects mean shit.

 

[ChiefDada]

I can read, kiddo. It is still flawed. This discussion has no meaning until people can play the game for themselves.

Nah, you couldn't have read the context given alongside the poll. If we are discussing in hypothetical context as I have made clear, then it's just plain weird to continue harping on the fact that the game isn't out yet.

However, I feel that you're question was framed in this convoluted hypothetical manner for GOW to win GOTY that it becomes stupid.

Not at all. Like many others here the GOTY award means very little to me as a gamer. But it can be used as a proxy for comparative purposes since most are familiar with the term.

GOW will simply have to be a better game to win.

Yes, and this is what we're discussing here. What defines "a better game" to you? For many, technical performance is a consideration.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

How do we know GOW will truly be a better game especially if it’s just more of the same as it’s predecessor based on most the video footage shown? I think from a technical standpoint GOW:R will be better, but I think the gameplay will go to Elden Ring.

 

[Fake]

Even then, I played both Sekiro and Bloodborne on my PS4 even with framerate issues I still think they much better game than GOW(2018).

As much I like GoW(2018), Bloodborne was an unforgetable game.

 

[Represent.]

How do we know GOW will truly be a better game especially if it’s just more of the same as it’s predecessor based on most the video footage shown? I think from a technical standpoint GOW:R will be better, but I think the gameplay will go to Elden Ring.

GOW 2018 already has better gameplay than Elden Ring. Im not sure how Elden Ring will have better gameplay than ragnarok

 

[yurinka]

Ohhh…so if GoW doesnt win is a conspiracy agains PS and if wins is because this is how should be.

If its just a polished GoW 2018 like HFW is a more polished HZD should not win.

I didn't say this. But I'll say that even if Elden Ring is better than HFW, GoW 2018 was better than Elden Ring in basically every area beyond considering that it meant a bigger change/evolution for its genre than Elden Ring has been for its genre. So if GoWR innovation aside keeps the overal quality at the same level of GoW 2018 it will be better than Elden Ring.

I think GoWR will be another masterpiece, the 2nd half of the GoW 2018 story arc. But for this reason will be also very similar instead of game concepts, story, mechanics etc. so won't be as 'revolutionary' as GoW 2018 was and several people will be more appealed by the idea of Elden Ring expanding the soulsborne genre to the open world.

I think the only chance of GoWR getting more GOTY awards than Elden Ring is if Sony continues with the woke nonsense of removing their white male protagonists and kill Kratos to replace it with a trans Atreus or the black girl. In that case even if they will lose a big amount of fans and will make them angry, all the woke media will give them their GOTY award as happened with TLOU2.

How do we know GOW will truly be a better game especially if it’s just more of the same as it’s predecessor based on most the video footage shown? I think from a technical standpoint GOW:R will be better, but I think the gameplay will go to Elden Ring.

Gameplay in GoW 2018 was already awesome, and this time the director of GoWR is someone who was combat director/designer in previous games. So I assume that being someone with a pedigree of being focused of designing gameplay and specially combat in this game they'll focus more in this area. So I assume gameplay and specially combat is going to be one of the best areas of the game.

In terms of tech and story I assume it will be more of the same but (even if it already was top notch) more polished because this time they won't need to reboot everything so they will have spent all that time of rebooting stuff into polishing stuff. So I think it won't feel as fresh and new as the previous one or Elden Ring, but I'm pretty sure the quality of everything will be super high.

 

[CeeJay]

Yes, and this is what we're discussing here. What defines "a better game" to you? For many, technical performance is a consideration.

I thought the question was whether all else being equal should the better performing game win?

And the answer to that is of course yes.

Asking what I consider defines a "better game" cannot really be answered I don't think. The best answer I can give is this equation.

Fun * hours played = bestness

A better game gets a higher bestness score.

 

[Werewolfgrandma]

I'm quite certain Ragnarok will win goty 2023

 

[SJRB]

When has a game ever won GOTY on the merit of "technical superiority"?

 

[Punished Miku]

The general consensus thus far is that the game is GOTY frontrunner and a near-flawless masterpiece, with the Exception (with a capital E) of it's technical performance.

Well this thread is absurd.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

GOW 2018 already has better gameplay than Elden Ring. Im not sure how Elden Ring will have better gameplay than ragnarok

Honestly, they are different type of games. I suppose it’s like comparing Fallout 3 to Doom Eternal, I guess for me Elden Ring has a lot of build, weapon variety which contributes heavily to it’s gameplay and replay value if that makes sense. For what’s considered to be an action-RPG, I think Elden Ring has impressive gameplay even compared to other action games.

 

[TonyK]

That will be not a problem because God of War will be released in 2023. You can make the same poll next year changing Elden Ring for Zelda 2.

 

[EDMIX]

Yup.

I feel several factors can lean towards GOTY for God Of War.

Story
Set pieces
Boss Fights.
Puzzles.

I love Elden Ring, but its not beating God Of War in story or world design or puzzles and Boss Fights would be debatable as I can see how someone favors those boss fights, but as a package as a whole, God Of War is one of a kind, Elden Ring is a open world version of a concept we've already seen by them lol I love it btw, but "it" isn't something I haven't played before by them, simply in a bigger world. I do hope they do a better story next time as I actually don't care for it lol

ChorizoPicozo This. So it seems like many of us kinda get where God Of War likely will gain its GOTY. If it even comes out this year, I think both games will gain many, many GOTYs and they are the 2 games to beat. The Last Of Us 1 being a remake, I'm sure can snag some, but I think many outlets will debate how a remake can take it or not or how much is different etc.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Yup.

I feel several factors can lean towards GOTY for God Of War.

Story
Set pieces
Boss Fights.
Puzzles.

I love Elden Ring, but its not beating God Of War in story or world design or puzzles and Boss Fights would be debatable as I can see how someone favors those boss fights, but as a package as a whole, God Of War is one of a kind, Elden Ring is a open world version of a concept we've already seen by them lol I love it btw, but "it" isn't something I haven't played before by them, simply in a bigger world. I do hope they do a better story next time as I actually don't care for it lol

ChorizoPicozo This. So it seems like many of us kinda get where God Of War likely will gain its GOTY. If it even comes out this year, I think both games will gain many, many GOTYs and they are the 2 games to beat. The Last Of Us 1 being a remake, I'm sure can snag some, but I think many outlets will debate how a remake can take it or not or how much is different etc.

Basically GoWR just needs to improve on what the original did by offering more progression and variety. The biggest flaws were lack of enemy types and boss encounters.

They just need to not screw up the ending, the epic plot to close out the series, and add a little variety in terms of progression/gameplay.

Elden Ring is amazing but so flawed because it tries to accept too many playstyles. The combat suffers greatly for it.

 

[Swift_Star]

GOW 2018 wasnt even in the same tier as elden ring...so for ragnarok to beat elden ring it needs to be noticably better than 2018...wouldnt put my money on that.

Some of you say the most absurd things.

 

[Swift_Star]

no
ragnarok, just like the 2018 gow, will be an above average game, at best

though, it will win, i'm sure of it. just like it happened in 2018. sony cares too much about media attention, they will pour some good money to clinch the goty title for their mediocre game, just like they did against rdr 2

PS studio games can be summed up with = boring and repetitive combat, mocap filled cutscenes, corridor TPS. same formula. every game. works like a charm. how joyful

its really crazy to see such attention these mediocre PS studio games get. all thanks to xbox's incompetence (xbox one being a failed console). ps3 xbox 360 had a more balanced userbase (i think %60-40 or something) and now we have %80 to %20 which creates this anomaly where all media and userbase thinks their games are godmode and no one can think otherwise because then you're taking up arms against a %80 console userbase so they must be right and unchallenged. never in my life i've seen ps3 exclusive games getting this much attention. exact same formula. exact same graphical peak (yes, they also had graphical peak with ps3 games. yet i've never seen so much "attention" to them. exact game stories. exact same gameplay, just with better mocap quality and smoother animations)

god of war 3 had a better change against rdr 1 yet ended up losing. yet somehow gow miraculuously wins over rdr 2. cut the bullshit. ragnarok is already a certified goty. if they cannot influence enough people on the show, they will postpone the release to 2023 so that they can avoid from soft's media influence (that is also a thing)

beating starfield over goty award will be even easier. they will have the full force of their userbase shitting on the game. like they already doing.

What a terrible take with no connection whatsoever to reality. Just buy PlayStation console.

 

[Oof85]

I didn't say this. But I'll say that even if Elden Ring is better than HFW, GoW 2018 was better than Elden Ring in basically every area beyond considering that it meant a bigger change/evolution for its genre than Elden Ring has been for its genre. So if GoWR innovation aside keeps the overal quality at the same level of GoW 2018 it will be better than Elden Ring.

I think GoWR will be another masterpiece, the 2nd half of the GoW 2018 story arc. But for this reason will be also very similar instead of game concepts, story, mechanics etc. so won't be as 'revolutionary' as GoW 2018 was and several people will be more appealed by the idea of Elden Ring expanding the soulsborne genre to the open world.

I think the only chance of GoWR getting more GOTY awards than Elden Ring is if Sony continues with the woke nonsense of removing their white male protagonists and kill Kratos to replace it with a trans Atreus or the black girl. In that case even if they will lose a big amount of fans and will make them angry, all the woke media will give them their GOTY award as happened with TLOU2.


Gameplay in GoW 2018 was already awesome, and this time the director of GoWR is someone who was combat director/designer in previous games. So I assume that being someone with a pedigree of being focused of designing gameplay and specially combat in this game they'll focus more in this area. So I assume gameplay and specially combat is going to be one of the best areas of the game.

In terms of tech and story I assume it will be more of the same but (even if it already was top notch) more polished because this time they won't need to reboot everything so they will have spent all that time of rebooting stuff into polishing stuff. So I think it won't feel as fresh and new as the previous one or Elden Ring, but I'm pretty sure the quality of everything will be super high.

Not trolling but how was Gow18 an evolution of the genre?

It was a change of the Gow formula yes, but 2018 itself was basically a Zelda game. Hub based progression, puzzles.

Like you can't call it an evolution of the genre just because they were inspired by a game 20 years old.

You really didn't see that?

 

[BigBooper]

Bugs and technical quirks are part of the game and should definitely be considered when scoring or awarding something like GOTY.

Aside from that, there's plenty of valid reasons to not pick Elden Ring because of the game design, as there will probably also be for GOW Ragnarok.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

A certain bunch will automatically choose GOW over Elden Ring.

 

[Ghost of Caelid]

Some of you say the most absurd things.

Elden ring was a zeitgeist moment...gow was a really good game. Two totally different tiers. Outside of just being a good game you think GOW ragnarok will have a changing impact on the industry?

 

[Ghost of Caelid]

A certain bunch will automatically choose GOW over Elden Ring.

The same bunch who said Elden Ring is overrated and HFW was the much better game...yes.

 

[OOGABOOGA]

No. It's about the whole package

If it was about Tech, then we would see Tech demos winning GOTY lol

 

[Fredrik]

You know what, Ragnarök would have a fair chance. I finally finished Elden Ring and the final boss encounter pissed me off so much I’m dropping it down to 9/10. Still the best FROM game but they seriously need to learn how to use difficulty options.

 

[SlimySnake]

I think most would agree that Elden Ring represents a paradigm shift for the open world genre. The general consensus thus far is that the game is GOTY frontrunner and a near-flawless masterpiece, with the Exception (with a capital E) of it's technical performance. This got me wondering just how much the game's technical shortcomings takes away from it's greatness (or perhaps it doesn't at all).

Considering the sequel to a prior GOTY winner is due later this year, I choose to frame my question as follows:

Hypothetically speaking, if God of War Ragnarok turns out to be the "Perfect Sequel" that doubles down on all of the attributes that made the 2018 game so beloved, while avoiding typical tropes often associated with sequels, would presumed technical superiority be enough to eek out GOTY win over Elden Ring in your opinion?

Nope. A good game is a good game. Horizon takes a big shit on GOW Ragnorak's visuals so its technically superior but its highly unlikely that it will end up as the better sequel. Should Horizon FW win GOTY over GOWR?

My favorite game of all time is MGS3. It ran at like 20 fps in like half of the levels. Groznigrad, swamp areas, almost all the boss fights and setpieces ran at sub 30 fps. didnt make a difference. still, the greatest game ever.

SOTC, same thing. 15 fps game. Couldnt care less. It's a masterpiece in game design, storytelling and world design. Elden Rings is mostly 45-60 fps on next gen consoles. Not really a big deal compared to what we put up with before.

That said, I hope GOWR kicks the shit out of ER in the GOTY awards. I havent disliked a well reviewed game this much since BOTW and unlike the Zelda series, I am a massive souls fan. However, I am not sure it will since it looks very copy pasta. Sony didnt even bother forcing Cory to lead the project and its going to suffer because of that. ER will win simply because of how different it feels compared to other souls game. It's a massive departure from the series roots while GOW looks identical to the previous game in pretty much every way.

 

[EruditeHobo]

Ragnarok may very well win & deserve GOTY, but for it to win it on the back of it's technical or performance-related superiority I'd think everything else would/should probably be kind of a push. And that's basically impossible IMO.

Some people will greatly prefer the look or style of GOW over ER, but this is just part of the discussion when it comes to GOTY. I look forward to the debate after playing GOW, I imagine there's absolutely no chance (assuming GOW is released this year) that both games don't figure heavily into that conversation. But either way, and while I haven't played a ton this year, Elden Ring is my default GOTY until something knocks it off its perch. And of the year's remaining (possible) releases, GOW feels like one of the very few that has that potential; GOW 1 is one of the best games I've played in... my life, probably.

 

[yurinka]

Not trolling but how was Gow18 an evolution of the genre?

It was a change of the Gow formula yes, but 2018 itself was basically a Zelda game. Hub based progression, puzzles.

Like you can't call it an evolution of the genre just because they were inspired by a game 20 years old.

You really didn't see that?

Seems you didn't play God of War or any other hack & slash game (Bayonetta, Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden, etc.) so you don't know how it evolves the genre. I suggest everyone to play it, even people like you who have no idea of what hack & slash games are. It's a masterpiece.

Its progression, hub and puzzles have nothing to do with Zelda, there are many genres with them, hundreds or thousands of games who did it both before and after Zelda. Go to troll someone else, I won't take this bait.

 

[sendit]

Horizon takes a big shit on GOW Ragnorak's visuals so its technically superior but its highly unlikely that it will end up as the better sequel. Should Horizon FW win GOTY over GOWR?

This man is already playing GoW:R to make such a bold claim.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

I feel like the poll should have had an option for Cringe. I'd have chosen that.

 

[Danjin44]

I feel like the poll should have had an option for Cringe. I'd have chosen that.

 

[Tomeru]

I may have thought that Elden Ring is a masterpiece 50 60hours in, but after a couple of hundred hours, it really isnt. I can't see a reason why GoWR beats it tbh.

Unless is a shit game oc.

 

[abacab driver]

This man is already playing GoW:R to make such a bold claim.

From what we've seen, Forbidden West has the edge in visuals, that's for sure.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

 

[Swift_Star]

Elden ring was a zeitgeist moment...gow was a really good game. Two totally different tiers. Outside of just being a good game you think GOW ragnarok will have a changing impact on the industry?

GoW was also a zeitgeist moment. Were you alive on 2018?

 

[Godot25]

I don't think Ragnarok would have a chance to beat Elden Ring.
Of course, Ragnarok is not out yet, but I highly doubt it will be anything more then "more God of War 2018." Which is fine, but Elden Ring brought open world design forward and it evolved Soulslike genre in a huge way. That's why it scored highly as it scored.

Ragnarok is looking similarly as Forbidden West. Moar of everything, but not necessarily better in any meaningful way. Which, again, is not a bad thing at all. It's just not good enough to compete with Elden Ring.

 

[adamsapple]

GoW was also a zeitgeist moment. Were you alive on 2018?

GoW 2018 was a very very good game, but it wasn't a zeitgeist moment.

And while we're on that, GoW 2018 is also a great example to counter the "should technically better games win ?" argument. Red Dead 2 was technically better than GoW 2018 by a big margin, including motion capture, digital acting, production values and graphical quality in a lot of cases, but GoW 2018 still ended up winning a lot more GoTY awards compared to it.

Technical prowess was not a factor then, it won't be now.

 

[Zimmy68]

What tech superiority? Walking down linear halls and fighting the same 4 enemies?
Wow, GOW is a technical marvel if that is the case.

 

[Ev1L AuRoN]

I think most would agree that Elden Ring represents a paradigm shift for the open world genre. The general consensus thus far is that the game is GOTY frontrunner and a near-flawless masterpiece, with the Exception (with a capital E) of it's technical performance. This got me wondering just how much the game's technical shortcomings takes away from it's greatness (or perhaps it doesn't at all).

Considering the sequel to a prior GOTY winner is due later this year, I choose to frame my question as follows:

Hypothetically speaking, if God of War Ragnarok turns out to be the "Perfect Sequel" that doubles down on all of the attributes that made the 2018 game so beloved, while avoiding typical tropes often associated with sequels, would presumed technical superiority be enough to eek out GOTY win over Elden Ring in your opinion?

I think most of us would agree, Elden Ring is a great game that is way overrated, I might agree it was a nice evolution for the souls formula, but I don't think it adds anything new to gaming as a whole. God of War is a serious contender to the GOTY this year, we can all expect the game to wipe Elden Ring technically speaking. But GoW is not just graphics, the story is also great, and the gaming mechanics are fun. At the end of the day, if the game manage to be as good or better than the last game, I would consider it GOTY 2022.

 

[Brofist]

The same bunch who said Elden Ring is overrated and HFW was the much better game...yes.

And the same bunch that shockingly find Bloodborne and Demon's Souls to be their favorite From games.

 

[renzero]

Lets wait and see if the game even makes it out in 2022 first

 

[ahtlas7]

I’ll let you know next year when it’s released.

 

[Swift_Star]

GoW 2018 was a very very good game, but it wasn't a zeitgeist moment.

And while we're on that, GoW 2018 is also a great example to counter the "should technically better games win ?" argument. Red Dead 2 was technically better than GoW 2018 by a big margin, including motion capture, digital acting, production values and graphical quality in a lot of cases, but GoW 2018 still ended up winning a lot more GoTY awards compared to it.

Technical prowess was not a factor then, it won't be now.

How it wasn’t a zeitgeist? People didn’t shut up about it for months not unlike ER. Stop with the reviosionism.

 

[Tg89]

I mean maybe if it was neck and neck with Elden Ring in other areas it could push it over the top.

But unless it's a vastly different game than GOW 2018 I can't see this being the case. ER is one of the greatest games of all time, a top 3 Souls game, meanwhile GOW 2018 is a great game that isn't in the same tier as the Souls series.

 

[Flabagast]

In all my life I have never seen a question as stupid as this one.

Trust me OP, that means a lot.

 

[Borowski_1]

I mean maybe if it was neck and neck with Elden Ring in other areas it could push it over the top.

But unless it's a vastly different game than GOW 2018 I can't see this being the case. ER is one of the greatest games of all time, a top 3 Souls game, meanwhile GOW 2018 is a great game that isn't in the same tier as the Souls series.

OK

 

[Borowski_1]

What tech superiority? Walking down linear halls and fighting the same 4 enemies?
Wow, GOW is a technical marvel if that is the case.

Animation, graphics, audio

All of that will be better in GoW

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

I think GoW:R or HFW could win GOTY over Elden Ring. It really depends what the judges are looking for. If they care about superb graphics, current gen features, mocap, acting, etc that's not exactly Elden Ring.
If they pick based on other things like what game had the biggest impact, etc. It'll be Elden RIng. I think it's a toss up cause we don't know what the judges will care about.

 

[adamsapple]

How it wasn’t a zeitgeist? People didn’t shut up about it for months not unlike ER. Stop with the reviosionism.

That's not how it works.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Hey guys, if Xenoblade 3 is really really good, and is not bad in any of the ways that it could hypothetically be bad, do you think that should qualify it to be Game of the Year?

 

[Swift_Star]

That's not how it works.

because you’re trying to downplay GoW, much like a lot of people ITT are doing.
That’s not surprising, though.