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[STARSBarry]

I am actually sad option 3 is not the longest by a country mile, GAF has disappointed me.

Only one of these games has released, no one here can say with certainty that one is better in an aspect than the other until both are in hands of the consumer.

No & Yes are equally as bad, your both just making an irrational decision based on what brand name you like best, its as simple as that.

Of course since I bet God of War will release in 2023... I think it's not going to be an issue anyway.

 

[Astral Dog]

Here is the bigger question. Do you guys want in GOTY devs be rewarded for just better graphics? That basically communicates with rest of devs that they should concentrate more on graphics instead of game itself because that how they will get recognized.....I mean is that direction we want game industry to go?

To be honest,Elden Ring already got plenty of recognition and sales, lets assume GOW Ragnarok wins VGA, it might be based on its own merits and not just graphic achievment, it should be close either way, ER is already popular choice for GOTY by gamers and critics

personally i don't find Elden Rings an improvment over previous Soul games and Bloodborne design wise, but it seems im the minority

 

[adamsapple]

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

No one's trying to downplay anything. We were all suitably excited for it and enjoyed it when it came out, hence it got a lot of awards as well.

 

[Fbh]

If you are talking about the awards given out by games media I don't think the technical aspect has much of an influence on it.
Games media generally cares little for technical issues and they usually only mention it when player outrage on social media grows large enough that talking about it generates clicks. You need to look no further than Elden Ring itself, if technical issues had any major influence in how they rate games, then Elden Ring wouldn't have a 96 metascore.

I am actually sad option 3 is not the longest by a country mile, GAF has disappointed me.

Only one of these games has released, no one here can say with certainty that one is better in an aspect than the other until both are in hands of the consumer.

No & Yes are equally as bad, your both just making an irrational decision based on what brand name you like best, its as simple as that.

I voted no because regardless of how Ragnarok turns out, it beating Elden Ring for goty or not won't depend on technical superiority

 

[Swift_Star]

No one's trying to downplay anything. We were all suitably excited for it and enjoyed it when it came out, hence it got a lot of awards as well.

Sure.
“Not in the same league” is not downplaying, right…

 

[TintoConCasera]

For me, it goes like this:

Gameplay > Music > Story > Technical aspects

So no, it's shouldn't.

 

[Ghost of Caelid]

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

GOW was not a zeitgeist moment...you know what zeitgeist means? Outside of being a really good game, what lasting impact has/will GOW 2018 have on the industry?

 

[geary]

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.

If they follow the former should rename the award Cinematic of the Year

 

[Swift_Star]

GOW was not a zeitgeist moment...you know what zeitgeist means? Outside of being a really good game, what lasting impact has/will GOW 2018 have on the industry?

Sure. A game that excels in gameplay, level design, storytelling and technical prowess will not have any lasting impact, no, people are not even talking about it 4 years later, it’s forgotten!!!!
/s

 

[Ghost of Caelid]

Sure. A game that excels in gameplay, level design, storytelling and technical prowess will not have any lasting impact, no, people are not even talking about it 4 years later, it’s forgotten!!!!
/s

You were so concerned with being sarcastic you failed to answer the question.

 

[Swift_Star]

You were so concerned with being sarcastic you failed to answer the question.

The sarcastic reply is your answer.

 

[ChiefDada]

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?

 

[GymWolf]

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?

Wasn't gow in the gotg list of many people during last gen? Both people and journalists?! It was way more than a great game for MANY people.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

If they follow the former should rename the award Cinematic of the Year

I'd say the gameplay of HFW and probably GoW:R evolved more than Elden Ring. You can be all "you don't need to change perfection" but it's not exactly new animations or pushing new current gen specific gameplay. etc.
Those Playstation games are 70+ hours of gameplay, to pretend they're just pretty cinematics is ridiculous. They're full packaged AAA games that are utilizing great acting and current gen tech. Elden Ring can be the best Souls game with the biggest scope and impact, but it's not exactly pushing the limits of tech or acting.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

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

Yup

 

[Warnen]

I think GoWR won't win GOTY even if it ends deserving it for whatever reason, because I think PC and MS fanboys, plus other players who only play on PC or Xbox, plus soulborne fans, plus players who will trully believe Elden Ring is Goty will all vote Elden Ring this year. Even some Nintendo fans/fanboys who don't play -at least often- on non-Nintendo platforms if they see there are 2 clear candidates like Elden Ring and GoWR they'll vote the one who is not Sony exclusive. This year they won't have BotW2 to vote it, instead as Nintendo exclusives they'll have different other games that aren't at that level, so their votes will spread and dillute between these other exclusives and Elden Ring.

I think people won't consider technical superiority. Many GOTY winners of previous years had important technical issues or were inferior technically compared to other candidates. When voting for GOTY people votes the game they want to win (in many cases considering what I said above), or the game they think is the best as game, not only technically. If people would vote technical superiority I'd assume other games like Horizon II would go above Elden Ring but that won't happen.

On top of that, I think that if GoWR gets released in November, many awards won't include it in the edition for this year and will move it to next one so it will compete against BotW2 and Starfield instead.

Jesus…

 

[Oof85]

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.

https://www.vg247.com/god-of-war-has-a-zelda-inspired-approach-to-exploration

It's only referenced by the game's director though.

K. Bet

 

[Mercador]

No matters how good GoW will be (and if released in 2022), Elder Ring was released on every platform (not counting Switch for obvious reason) so I think it will win no matters what.

 

[itsjustJEFF]

Hypothetically speaking...

If all other things are equal, then yes, you kinda have to give it to the game that did something just better than the other. But, it's never "equal" ppl are ppl and they will have a preference... I mean just look at the comments in this thread, you see preference everywhere, not saying that is bad but that's life. Just say, I like this game better and really that's all you need to say.

 

[Borowski_1]

No matters how good GoW will be (and if released in 2022), Elder Ring was released on every platform (not counting Switch for obvious reason) so I think it will win no matters what.

Like RDR 2 in 2018?

 

[DeepEnigma]

Like RDR 2 in 2018?

Man, what a great year that was. Two bangers I adored!

 

[Borowski_1]

Man, what a great year that was. Two bangers I adored!

Yeah, two all time greats

And gems like Celeste, Yoku's Island Express on top of that

 

[yamaci17]

Like RDR 2 in 2018?

rdr2 was not released on PC in 2018

 

[Danjin44]

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?

For me it very well could, I LOVED both XC1&2 and so far XC3 looking absolutely delicious.

But it’s no where popular enough to win in GOTY shows.

 

[Swift_Star]

rdr2 was not released on PC in 2018

That doesn’t matter at all.

 

[Swift_Star]

Wasn't gow in the gotg list of many people during last gen? Both people and journalists?! It was way more than a great game for MANY people.

You don’t need to go far to understand why they’re downplaying GoW. It’s clear why. But they’re wrong. GoW is one of the best games of all time it ticks all the right boxes. Saying it wasn’t a part of the zeitgeist at the time is just being ignorant or arguing in bad faith.

 

[sendit]

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

Sure, I can agree to that. However I’ll reserve my judgement until the game comes out. Santa Monica are no slouch in graphics.

 

[TrebleShot]

Elden Ring should win most over rated game in a generation. I haven’t played GOW R yet so I reserve judgment

 

[yamaci17]

god of war is THE overrated game

 

[Swift_Star]

god of war is THE overrated game

Are you ok?

 

[Balducci30]

The last god of war was nowhere near Elden rings level and I really enjoyed it - so I don’t think even if they knock it out of the park it has a chance at competing. But it shouldn’t get points for graphics unless they are absolutely equal in all other respects

 

[ShirAhava]

god of war is THE overrated game

Its ok just like Maximo was ok Capcom should bring that back.....all that hype and then you play the actual god of war games and its just...decent

the psp ones might be the most fun to play actually

 

[DeepEnigma]

Hottakes: The Page

 

[Keihart]

i don't think performance matters as much as some people like to believe when the game is perfectly playable, just look at the perpetual game of the generation Bloodborne.

 

[Alebrije]

Yea ir could but also It couldn't.

 

[yamaci17]

Its ok just like Maximo was ok Capcom should bring that back.....all that hype and then you play the actual god of war games and its just...decent

the psp ones might be the most fun to play actually

coming from loving gow3 a lot, they literally stripped all the good parts god of war 3 had. constant action, uninterrupted gameplay, perfect cutscene balance.

every giant clone boss made my eyes roll. especially towards the latter half of the game in gow 2018

its a 9-12 hrs experience that is unorganically stretched to 20-25 hrs

majority of the map includes repetetive locations. most of the places are boring to explore, they're just randomly designed "vistas" with no background or whatsoever. the entire place that game takes place is just a random place in midgard. that's it. no actual importance. no actual history. unlike gow 1/2/3 where you were actually playing in ancient Greece cities and such. places made sense there. they're not making any sense in gow. maybe they will in ragnarok, hopefully.

muspelheim and niflheim challenges are uninspired time fillers.

valkyries are cool but there's not enough moveset diversity between them for them to be not repetitive

majority of the game is filled with fetch quests which everyone seems to ignore mentioning. fetch this, fetch that. half of the plot revolves around getting the teleporter stone.

i liked the game, i enjoyed it. by saying overrated, i'm not saying it's not a good game. i'd give it a decent 90-91 for the sake of being able to mix all of this stuff in a solid composition. its overrated in the aspect that it was chosen as GotY and it has 94-95 metacritic score. for me, that is the exact definition of an overrated game.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

The Last of Us should win. Every year. The first one. The remaster of the first one. The remake of the first one. The remake of the remaster of the first one. The remake of the remake of the remaster of the first one. The Last of Us, Part I - Part II: Electric Boogaloo. The demake of the remake of the first one for quirky indie types. Super The Last of Us, Part I - Turbo Edition. The Last of Us, Part I - Classics Collection: four of the same classic story on one disc. The Last of Us, Part I: visual novel. The Last of Us, Part I - Braille edition. You know, Ellie, we really are the game of the years. Etc.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

If it does, the “Elden Ring got robbed” crowd will never let it go.
Then again, if it doesn’t, Elden Ring stans will make sure to remind us for a good decade.

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?

I know this is a joke post, but it’s impossible.
A JRPG on Nintendo hardware? Not gonna happen even if Nintendo gifted two PS5s to every voter.

 

[Captain Toad]

its not easy.
GOWR only available on PS4/5, while ER available on multiplatforms.

Prepare for anti GOWR post once its released, they are going to compare it with ER like how they did it with HFW

God of War was GOTY everywhere in 2018 and it deserved to be. If Elden Ring had released in 2018, things may have been different.

There's very few games I consider better than God of War 2018. Elden Ring is one.

 

[Captain Toad]

The Last of Us should win. Every year. The first one. The remaster of the first one. The remake of the first one. The remake of the remaster of the first one. The remake of the remake of the remaster of the first one. The Last of Us, Part I - Part II: Electric Boogaloo. The demake of the remake of the first one for quirky indie types. Super The Last of Us, Part I - Turbo Edition. The Last of Us, Part I - Classics Collection: four of the same classic story on one disc. The Last of Us, Part I: visual novel. The Last of Us, Part I - Braille edition. You know, Ellie, we really are the game of the years. Etc.

 

[VN1X]

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?

What does it matter? Who's GOTY anyway? You do realize a ton of outlets hand these awards out don't you?

Hypothetically speaking I'd love for Gaf to go through one day without nonsensical shower thought threads.

 

[yamaci17]

God of War was GOTY everywhere in 2018 and it deserved to be. If Elden Ring had released in 2018, things may have been different.

There's very few games I consider better than God of War 2018. Elden Ring is one.

it wasn't goty everywhere

Award Totals

• God of War- 264
  • Media Outlets: 177 | Readers' Choice: 87
• Red Dead Redemption 2 - 178 (including 3 awards from 2019)
  • Media Outlets: 129 | Readers' Choice: 49
• Marvel's Spider-Man- 23
  • Media Outlets: 23 | Readers' Choice: 0
• Celeste - 9

 

[DeepEnigma]

 

[Swift_Star]

 

[Wunray]

I still don't understand how the first 1 beat RDR 2.

 

[yurinka]

https://www.vg247.com/god-of-war-has-a-zelda-inspired-approach-to-exploration

It's only referenced by the game's director though.

K. Bet

All games are influenced by hundreds of games. Zelda has nothing special about exploration that isn't in thousands of other action adventure games. With that pretty likely he only meant that it wasn't going to be as linear as the previous games in the GoW series or genre.

 

[Fredrik]

The Last of Us should win. Every year. The first one. The remaster of the first one. The remake of the first one. The remake of the remaster of the first one. The remake of the remake of the remaster of the first one. The Last of Us, Part I - Part II: Electric Boogaloo. The demake of the remake of the first one for quirky indie types. Super The Last of Us, Part I - Turbo Edition. The Last of Us, Part I - Classics Collection: four of the same classic story on one disc. The Last of Us, Part I: visual novel. The Last of Us, Part I - Braille edition. You know, Ellie, we really are the game of the years. Etc.

Lol

But seriously, I loved the first one on PS3, the remake of part 1 is going to be stellar. Could it win GOTY? Or is there some rule that exclude remakes?

 

[Astral Dog]

If it does, the “Elden Ring got robbed” crowd will never let it go.
Then again, if it doesn’t, Elden Ring stans will make sure to remind us for a good decade.




I know this is a joke post, but it’s impossible.
A JRPG on Nintendo hardware? Not gonna happen even if Nintendo gifted two PS5s to every voter.

Yeah it will never win GOTY on those awards, but lets assume for one moment Xenoblade 3 fixes the issues with the previous two games and achieves a 90 in Metacritic again, like the first game. Then at least it should get nominated for RPG of the year, that's enough prestige for the more niche releases and a win regardless.

Then there is Bayonetta 3 i couldn't care less how these two beasts kill themselves to win GOTY, as long as the goddess of action games is represented in the runner ups VGA gamers won't have any choice but to look at her splendor with those filthy unworthy eyes of theirs

 

[Mercador]

Like RDR 2 in 2018?

Good point, did GoW got more prizes than RDR2?

 

[Spukc]

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?

Zelda botw changed shit

Elden ring did fuck all besides renew old souls gameplay