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[El Pistolero]

Good on From to have succeeded in transitiong to mass appeal, though getting the most awards in a year is dependant on the quality and number of strong contenders during those 12 months (Aside from GOW Ragnarok, there was no real competition in 2022; 2023 is destined to be the theatre of a bloody war!). Regardless, happy for Miyazaki and the team; They proved their worth to me with Bloodborne, so I am eager to get my hands on ER, once I secure a PS5, God willing!

 

[Aenima]

I was convinced that i would find Demon Souls stale, boring and weaker compared to DS1, DS3 and Bloodborne especially since it was the first game in the series before they ironed out all the kinks. However, maybe it was the new PS5 graphics, but i was enthralled by it. Took me some time to get into it but once I did, I just fell in love. Beat it like 13 times in a month and a half. With every weapon, build and class. I just love that despite all the struggles I had with the game's more punishing levels, I was constantly getting items that were helping me get stronger even if i kept losing the souls.

I am told Elden Ring is a 100-120 hour game that only gets good around 60 hours and im like fuck that. Souls games are already too oppressive for 20-30 hour campaigns. I cant do 100 hours of constant death loops. If the level design was as impeccable as Bloodborne and DS3 then maybe, but these levels feel like copy pasta Ubisoft levels and the few castles i tried felt like DS2 levels. No thanks.

I will take quality over quantity.

I was also surprized to have enjoyed Demon's Souls as much as i did especially because i already beated the original a couple times on the PS3, and i played it just a few months after beating Elden Ring, that gave me an overdose of souls games. But somehow, going back to the focused souls roots with claustrophobic enviroments, felt fresh again and a complete different, and to me, much more enjoyable experience.

 

[Madflavor]

It's been almost a year for me to marinate on my feelings toward Elden Ring, but I really do think it's one of the best games ever made. It won't click with everyone. No game does. But so much about it turned it into a perfect storm for success. It was wild for me to hear from people within my circle who normally don't care about games hearing about it, and wanting to try it out. My wife played it for a bit, who has zero experience with games. But it was fun backseat gaming with her, and watching her collect her Spirit Ash pokemon to help her kill bosses.

 

[Aenima]

I'm very glad to see Elden Ring celebrated, and I think both titles are great for different reasons.

Although I must admit that it's amusing seeing just how different the discussion surrounding awards and accolades is with Elden Ring compared to how contentious things were with TLOU2.
With one title there was a lot of sentiment about awards not really mattering and was indicative of the gaming press /reviewers being pretentious or even shills. While with the other it's simply acknowledging greatness.

Welcome to GAF

 

[xBlueStonex]

It’s mostly fanboys who feel the need to diss TLOU2/Sony games. Pathetic people really.

I disagree. It's mostly people who LOVED the first one, and were appalled at how awful TLOU2 turned out. Possibly the biggest bait and switch in gaming history, but was completely shielded by identity politics.

Considering the stricter rules on reviews this time around, it makes Elden Ring's victory over TLOU2 that much sweeter.

 

[Fredrik]

As for the game Elden Ring itself, it's a good game, I just don't see what it does that stand out so differently from the other souls games to get the hype it receives.

Check some video where it received the GOTY and you’ll get a detailed explanation.

John Linneman, Digital Foundry



For me it’s the open world, imo it has one of the biggest and most content-rich and perfectly crafted maps in gaming. I’ve played it for over 350 hours by now and done several playthroughs and I still find new things and areas when I explore.

The traversal freedom also remove one of my biggest issues with Demon’s Souls and Bloodborne, the repeating and sense of being stuck. There are a couple gatekeeper type of bosses that will prevent you from progressing further, but FROM make it clear early on that if you can’t beat a tough enemy or boss and don’t enjoy retrying over and over then it’s perfectly fine to just go out in the world to do other stuff. Then you can return when you’re powerful enough to go back and slay that foe.

 

[gow3isben]

If Ragnarok came out during the same year as Last of Us 2 it would have beaten it in awards.

Lot of critics liked Last of Us 2 but many did not. It just had 0 competition.

 

[gothmog]

Well deserved IMO. It was obvious that the game was something special the second I popped it in. Ragnarok was special as well but it felt like a continuation of 2018.

 

[Represent.]

Disgusting.

 

[Fake]

TLOU2 is better than the first in every way possible. Sure there are some people with really poor taste who got their vagina hurt because Joel died like a bitch instead of dying like a hero (he’s not a hero ya dumb dumbs), but by and large it’s just pathetic fanboys.

I love the first one and hate the second one. My last xbox system was a Xbox 360. You can talk all the day about the 'qualities' of the part 2 in comparison with the part 1 with is totally fair, but in the end all that matters are that story telling games are double edge swords and fun is subjective.

Or people are fanboys or people are haters. You need to decide with one are true and stick with.

 

[Madflavor]

If Ragnarok came out during the same year as Last of Us 2 it would have beaten it in awards.

Lot of critics liked Last of Us 2 but many did not. It just had 0 competition.

That's not true man, 2020 was a loaded year.

TLOU2 is better than the first in every way possible. Sure there are some people with really poor taste who got their vagina hurt because Joel died like a bitch instead of dying like a hero (he’s not a hero ya dumb dumbs), but by and large it’s just pathetic fanboys.

I played through the first game 3 times between 2013 - 2015. I played through Part 2 only once in late 2020. To be honest, aside from some major beats, I don't remember much about Part 2's story, but I still remember plenty about Part 1. Part 2 was more bold in it's direction, but structurally I found Part 1 to have a more tightly written and paced storyline, that also had a broader appeal. Part 1 had moments of beauty, humor and levity spaced out between the dark moments. Part 2 was relentlessly oppressive and dark. It had some light moments, but not nearly to the extent of Part 1's. It didn't help that the pacing of it was uneven and overly long, so by the end I was glad for it to be over.

And btw this is coming from someone whos loves Blood Meridian, The Road, and Berserk. I'm no stranger to dark stories, I've just seen a lot better than TLOU2.

Disgusting.

Quit stalling, the crow on your plate is getting cold.

 

[YukiOnna]

Thank god.

I love the first one and hate the second one. My last xbox system was a Xbox 360. You can talk all the day about the 'qualities' of the part 2 in comparison with the part 1 with is totally fair, but in the end all that matters are that story telling games are double edge swords and fun is subjective.

Or people are fanboys or people are haters. You need to decide with one are true and stick with.

Same, it killed my interest in the IP entirely. I didn't like it at all.

 

[remember_spinal]

I'm very glad to see Elden Ring celebrated, and I think both titles are great for different reasons.

Although I must admit that it's amusing seeing just how different the discussion surrounding awards and accolades is with Elden Ring compared to how contentious things were with TLOU2.
With one title there was a lot of sentiment about awards not really mattering and was indicative of the gaming press /reviewers being pretentious or even shills. While with the other it's simply acknowledging greatness.

Yeah, thats why i made the thread about the awards only caring about “cinematic-movie” games. Now that doesn’t seem to be the case for elden ring so next time a sony game wins that narrative won’t hold the same weight

You know this would be an entirely different discussion if elden ring had not come out or bombed and god of war was currently winning right now

 

[Represent.]

That's not true man, 2020 was a loaded year.



I played through the first game 3 times between 2013 - 2015. I played through Part 2 only once in late 2020. To be honest, aside from some major beats, I don't remember much about Part 2's story, but I still remember plenty about Part 1. Part 2 was more bold in it's direction, but structurally I found Part 1 to have a more tightly written and paced storyline, that also had a broader appeal. Part 1 had moments of beauty, humor and levity spaced out between the dark moments. Part 2 was relentlessly oppressive and dark. It had some light moments, but not nearly to the extent of Part 1's. It didn't help that the pacing of it was uneven and overly long, so by the end I was glad for it to be over.

And btw this is coming from someone whos loves Blood Meridian, The Road, and Berserk. I'm no stranger to dark stories, I've just seen a lot better than TLOU2.



Quit stalling, the crow on your plate is getting cold.

Your critique makes no sense. How can you love The Road, Berserk and Meridian for being dark, and then in the same sentence call out TLOU 2 for being too dark? It's no darker than any of those. What is your argument?

 

[manfestival]

Bought the game on the Christmas Steam sale. Already put like 35 hours in it and that is with having other things taking priority over it with my time. It is like this big mix of... I want to do this but I also dont know what I should do and I end up exploring doing something different than everything else lol. Loving the fact that there are so many characters, quests, and stories within. The game retaining it's abstractness while adding more storytelling is really nice.

 

[Barakov]

Elden Ring surpasses The Last of Us 2 as the most-awarded Game of the Year recipient

FromSoftware's latest has dominated voting

www.gamesradar.com

Elden ring 324 wins
TLOU 2 322 wins

gg

Edge it by a smidge but congrats regardless. Can't wait for the dlc.

 

[DenchDeckard]

TLOU2 is better than the first in every way possible. Sure there are some people with really poor taste who got their vagina hurt because Joel died like a bitch instead of dying like a hero (he’s not a hero ya dumb dumbs), but by and large it’s just pathetic fanboys.

This is a good take.

I like Abby too but last of us 2 is not a better game than the first.

Soon we will have peeps trying to argue ragnarok is better than gow 2018 when both the lou 2 and god of war r are completely narratively and pacing wise a bit of a mess. Both are bloated decent games but nothing special that lost their magic when they lost the original directors.

I find it funny that both last if us part 1 and gow 2018 felt so focused in their goals with a clear vision from beginning to end and both sequels just jump around and seem confused imo.

Bring back Bruce Staley and Corey I guess.

 

[Fake]

Thank god.


Same, it killed my interest in the IP entirely. I didn't like it at all.

Imagine if people talk like 'bruh Dark Souls 2 are better than Dark Souls 1 in every way'.

There are some gameplay aspect of the part 2 that I quite like, not to mention the graphics, but ends there. Story is super mix bag and when I see people like 'but reviewer like it', ok, but I not.

I feel like there is a line about ethic getting crossed just because a game get praise. Elden Ring is my GOTY, but of course have their flaws, perfomance issues, but the rest care the game in the back, just like Witcher 3 care the mix bag combat in the back with his amazing story.

 

[gow3isben]

That's not true man, 2020 was a loaded year.



I played through the first game 3 times between 2013 - 2015. I played through Part 2 only once in late 2020. To be honest, aside from some major beats, I don't remember much about Part 2's story, but I still remember plenty about Part 1. Part 2 was more bold in it's direction, but structurally I found Part 1 to have a more tightly written and paced storyline, that also had a broader appeal. Part 1 had moments of beauty, humor and levity spaced out between the dark moments. Part 2 was relentlessly oppressive and dark. It had some light moments, but not nearly to the extent of Part 1's. It didn't help that the pacing of it was uneven and overly long, so by the end I was glad for it to be over.

And btw this is coming from someone whos loves Blood Meridian, The Road, and Berserk. I'm no stranger to dark stories, I've just seen a lot better than TLOU2.



Quit stalling, the crow on your plate is getting cold.

What was the other top tier games released that year?

Doom FF7 and GoT are forbidden west level at best in critical reception likely a tad lower in fact and that has a total of 3 awards this year

If HFW came out 2020 it would have got 60-80 awards

Plague Tale would have gotten a good few in 2020 too

Hades is an indie and indies always get shafted

Ragnarok and unfortunately even more so Elden Ring simply dwarfed everything else this year

 

[ChoosableOne]

i'm happy for miyazaki and from software.

it's a great game but i wish i had got the same enjoyment out of it that others seemed to. don't get me wrong i played the shit out of it and had a fun time with it but it has some big flaws. i want to go back to it and see if my mind changes but i'm waiting and praying for a big DLC release.

"Not Recommended-- 350 hrs on record(250 hrs at review time)"

 

[sainraja]

For my part though, Elden Ring is leaps and bounds above TLOU2 as a complete package, and deserves to be at the top. It also didn’t have to lie to its audience to sell itself, which is something that deserves to be rewarded.

Just curious....what did they lie to the audience about? Or did I just miss that?

 

[sainraja]

I'm very glad to see Elden Ring celebrated, and I think both titles are great for different reasons.

Although I must admit that it's amusing seeing just how different the discussion surrounding awards and accolades is with Elden Ring compared to how contentious things were with TLOU2.
With one title there was a lot of sentiment about awards not really mattering and was indicative of the gaming press /reviewers being pretentious or even shills. While with the other it's simply acknowledging greatness.

It comes down to what aligns the most with one's own view.

 

[ungalo]

On goty trackers in 2007 there's like a little more than 100 awards delivered in total. Whether people are digging way too much for awards nowadays, or there is just way more awards now, this shit is getting absurd. Such records have absolutely no value. Elden Ring is game of the year, good for From Software, that's it.

 

[Dirk Benedict]

On goty trackers in 2007 there's like a little more than 100 awards delivered in total. Whether people are digging way too much for awards nowadays, or there is just way more awards now, this shit is getting absurd. Such records have absolutely no value. Elden Ring is game of the year, good for From Software, that's it.

I really feel like we're in an era of escalation, in more ways than just one.

 

[Balducci30]

If Ragnarok came out during the same year as Last of Us 2 it would have beaten it in awards.

Lot of critics liked Last of Us 2 but many did not. It just had 0 competition.

Agreed. Ragnarok was better than LOU 2 imo

 

[SenjutsuSage]

If Elden Ring is so good why isn't there an Elden Ring 2?

You win the thread. Nobody can possibly counter this.

 

[-Zelda-]

And it did it without needing a Golf Club.
Would it be ok if I also thank my Reformed Rabbi Bill Clinton as well?

 

[rofif]

This is a good take.

I like Abby too but last of us 2 is not a better game than the first.

Soon we will have peeps trying to argue ragnarok is better than gow 2018 when both the lou 2 and god of war r are completely narratively and pacing wise a bit of a mess. Both are bloated decent games but nothing special that lost their magic when they lost the original directors.

I find it funny that both last if us part 1 and gow 2018 felt so focused in their goals with a clear vision from beginning to end and both sequels just jump around and seem confused imo.

Bring back Bruce Staley and Corey I guess.

I mean, when have you replayed tlou1? It's quite limited in combat and then you got to move boxes.
in tlou2, all gameplay elements are WAY better. It's just long.
I do have part1 remake and intend to play it finally, so I will be 100% fresh how 1 plays

As for Gow, I have a need to replay 2018 one more than Ragnarok. I liked more personal, "smaller" story that is easier to replay.
Ragnarok is great but I don't feel like playing other character, slowly walking through the ass section for 2 hours and then the inventory is a bit overbuilt and gear is a bit much at times. Thankfully not overbuilt and as bloated as horizon.

 

[Represent.]

This is a good take.

I like Abby too but last of us 2 is not a better game than the first.

Soon we will have peeps trying to argue ragnarok is better than gow 2018 when both the lou 2 and god of war r are completely narratively and pacing wise a bit of a mess. Both are bloated decent games but nothing special that lost their magic when they lost the original directors.

I find it funny that both last if us part 1 and gow 2018 felt so focused in their goals with a clear vision from beginning to end and both sequels just jump around and seem confused imo.

Bring back Bruce Staley and Corey I guess.

It seems people confuse longer, non-linear, and focus on more than one character as "bad pacing". Its like, as soon as a story becomes more than just "Start. Middle. End." yall say it has bad pacing.

No.

Both GOW 2018 and TLOU 1 are simple and barebones in comparison to their sequels. Both sequels are better games.

They give us more to explore, introduce new themes, expand on the world significantly. They introduce an entire cast of new characters, and give us the perspectives of the same events through the eyes of different characters.

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

Check some video where it received the GOTY and you’ll get a detailed explanation.

I played the game, there's really nothing that stands out than taking the series and putting it in a more open environment imo. I mean it's still a good game I just don't get why people are acting like it's revolutionary for Souls-Style games.

It does have some great sales so regardless of GOTY it's selling well.

 

[Katt”BuckNasty”Johnston]

Amazing game. Even though I don’t have a lot of time to game anymore. 2022 had some great games. Happy i platinumed this and gowr

 

[Madflavor]

Your critique makes no sense. How can you love The Road, Berserk and Meridian for being dark, and then in the same sentence call out TLOU 2 for being too dark? It's no darker than any of those. What is your argument?

I literally explained why in the same post. It's because:

It didn't help that the pacing of it was uneven and overly long, so by the end I was glad for it to be over.

I'm no stranger to dark stories, I've just seen a lot better than TLOU2.

I can stomach the dark themes and elements of Cormac McCarthy stories and Berserk, because they're a lot better written than TLOU2.

 

[FunkMiller]

Just curious....what did they lie to the audience about? Or did I just miss that?

The pre release advertising made it look like Joel was alive and a part of the gameplay. They literally placed him in sequences he wasn‘t in, and changed his character model to hide how little he was in it, and why. Druckmann also claimed you only ever played as Ellie.

 

[FunkMiller]

I am told Elden Ring is a 100-120 hour game that only gets good around 60 hours and im like fuck that. Souls games are already too oppressive for 20-30 hour campaigns. I cant do 100 hours of constant death loops. If the level design was as impeccable as Bloodborne and DS3 then maybe, but these levels feel like copy pasta Ubisoft levels and the few castles i tried felt like DS2 levels. No thanks.

I will take quality over quantity.

Not true. It’s great from minute one. The sense of scale, exploration and freedom are there from the second you step out into the world. And the levels really aren’t copy paste. The major dungeon areas are every bit as good as the Souls ones. Honestly, if you love Souls, you’ll love Elden Ring.

 

[Buggy Loop]

I still don’t get where these acclaims all come from, just like TLOU 2, but oh well.

I too vote for Elden ring for GOTY. Surely as worthwhile to add to the list as a good portion of those awards?

 

[Topher]

Soon we will have peeps trying to argue ragnarok is better than gow 2018 when both the lou 2 and god of war r are completely narratively and pacing wise a bit of a mess. Both are bloated decent games but nothing special that lost their magic when they lost the original directors.

There is nothing to "try and argue". If someone has the opinion that Ragnarok and TLOu 2 are better than their predecessors in every way then that's their opinion. You might as well argue with someone about their favorite color.

 

[DeaconOfTheDank]

none of those things helped me with my build. I just felt like i was getting random stuff still rocking my starting longsword after like 12-15 hours. By that time, you are half way to two thirds of the way done in souls games and are fully decked out. they felt far more rewarding.

the other day, i decided to go back, give the game another shot, and killed a dragon. i got some dragon item that i didnt even know what to do with.

I doubt it but honestly don't know areas I've gotten to, as I really don't pay attention to the names (same with npcs). I just did the underground area that's always night near the beginning of the game. The exploration is just such a turn off for me, that I end up just don't enjoy playing it. Think I need to just put it down for a week and see if care to come back to it. As of now, it's just a chore for me to play.

Replying to both of you because it think the same answer might apply here.

Elden Ring is a muuuuuch longer game than any of the Souls games. Hell, I'd say it's about 3 games in one. As a result, the soft level cap for most stats is around 60. Additionally, the build variety (as others have pointed out) is as wide and deep as it's ever been. Use that variety to your advantage.

It's not recommended to focus on just on one stat for a build. You would be shooting yourself in the foot by going all in on just strength, intelligence, faith, etc. I don't think you realize this, but an undiversified stat distribution is locking away the utility of a ton of items you get from exploration. Judging by your posts, this seems to be the case. Instead, explore a hybrid distribution of points.

For example, my first build was dexterity + intelligence so I was katana wielding mage (don't laugh at me - I didn't realize Moonveil was the meta). My second build in NG+ was strength + intelligence + faith and I was dual wielding Moonlight + Golden Order greatsword while stocking up on a bunch of lighting + gravity based incantations. My third build was faith + arcane + dexterity and was wielding Mogh's spear with a bunch of blood + frenzy incantations. I just started a new run and my latest build is faith + dexterity and I'm using a Winged Scythe with some basic Golden Order incantations.

Experiment! Combat becomes way more dynamic once you start to mix it up a bit. Also, who cares if the build isn't viable for PvP. As long as the game is fun to play in PvE, that's all that matters.

 

[Amiga]

Well deserved. The amount of hand crafted content is monumental.

 

[nial]

no sane person can get engaged in a topic like this

 

[SuperSaiyanWithDreads]

Elden Ring surpasses The Last of Us 2 as the most-awarded Game of the Year recipient

FromSoftware's latest has dominated voting

www.gamesradar.com

Elden ring 324 wins
TLOU 2 322 wins

gg

Only because you got Xbox and PC sites voting it in…Tlou 2 won that many awards and it was only on PS4 at the time

 

[Mozzarella]

Best thing that comes from these wins is the inevitable changes to open world design.

 

[YukiOnna]

Imagine if people talk like 'bruh Dark Souls 2 are better than Dark Souls 1 in every way'.

There are some gameplay aspect of the part 2 that I quite like, not to mention the graphics, but ends there. Story is super mix bag and when I see people like 'but reviewer like it', ok, but I not.

I feel like there is a line about ethic getting crossed just because a game get praise. Elden Ring is my GOTY, but of course have their flaws, perfomance issues, but the rest care the game in the back, just like Witcher 3 care the mix bag combat in the back with his amazing story.

When the narrative is the focus, it can't be ignored if it's not good. Gameplay wasn't enough to carry me to continue on either, I'd rather wait for Factions in that case.

Yeah, just because it's GOTY doesn't make it perfect. Plenty of issues for people, but the overall experience outweighs it for them.

 

[Madflavor]

Best thing that comes from these wins is the inevitable changes to open world design.

The handful of vocally salty devs who worked on Horizon TFW was pretty funny to watch at the time. That game was fine, but it took the same standard cookie cutter approach to open world design that so many Open Word Action/Adventure games have been taking since the late 2000s. You almost can’t blame them. They’ve been trained and mandated to think a certain way about game design.

We the players are the idiots, and we need our hands held and be told what to do and where to go.

Then Elden Ring comes out, beats the shit out of us, and tells us it don’t give a fuck where we go or what we do with our lives. And it resonated with the gaming community. The devs at Guerilla must’ve been dumbfounded, and instead of trying to understand it, they pointed fingers at gamers.

 

[sainraja]

The pre release advertising made it look like Joel was alive and a part of the gameplay. They literally placed him in sequences he wasn‘t in, and changed his character model to hide how little he was in it, and why. Druckmann also claimed you only ever played as Ellie.

Ah, I remember about the advertisement thing now but didn't know about Druckman saying you only played as Ellie. But gotcha.

 

[sainraja]

We the players are the idiots, and we need our hands held and be told what to do and where to go.

Don't disagree here but many times....people confuse hand holding with linear games where it is generally clear where you need to go next, but the encounter/next chapter/level itself you have to figure out.

Then Elden Ring comes out, beats the shit out of us, and tells us it don’t give a fuck where we go or what we do with our lives. And it resonated with the gaming community.

That was already done with BOTW. That was the game that showed us "it don't give a fuck where we go or what we do with our lives" and it did that in 2017; it took 5 years for another developer to adopt that into their game.

The handful of vocally salty devs who worked on Horizon TFW was pretty funny to watch at the time. That game was fine, but it took the same standard cookie cutter approach to open world design that so many Open Word Action/Adventure games have been taking since the late 2000s. You almost can’t blame them. They’ve been trained and mandated to think a certain way about game design.

When and where did this happen?

The devs at Guerilla must’ve been dumbfounded, and instead of trying to understand it, they pointed fingers at gamers.

So, you are telling me that gamers influenced BOTW before its release? No one had any idea what BOTW was going to do with the open world game design.

 

[Clear]

The pre release advertising made it look like Joel was alive and a part of the gameplay. They literally placed him in sequences he wasn‘t in, and changed his character model to hide how little he was in it, and why. Druckmann also claimed you only ever played as Ellie.

This to me is such a bogus take. By this token Hitchcock was wrong to have Janet Leigh headlining Psycho... Hiding a major twist to maximize impact is legitimate.

 

[{insert code here}]

Umbasa

 

[Draugoth]

Valve has announced the results of its 2022 Steam Awards. As expected, Elden Ring took Game of the Year, as well as Best Game You Suck At. Other winners include Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, and Stray.

While the awards largely celebrate the games of 2022, many older games did find their way on the list. Hitman 3 won Best VR Game, because that version of the game release early this year. Cyberpunk 2077 also won Labor of Love, celebrating games that receive updates or continual attention. In the eyes of many Steam users at least, Cyberpunk 2077 has redeemed its rocky launch. Newly released ports of PlayStation games also made a strong showing here, with Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales and God of War winning awards. Sony's push into PC gaming seems to be making an impact, as other Sony-affiliated games like Stray got recognition.

Celebrating this year's release of Steam Deck, Valve added the Best Game On The Go award, allowing players to vote for their favorite game to take with them. Death Stranding Director's Cut won this one, which checks out. It's easy to imagine the romance of delivering a package while on your commute or lounging in bed.

Steam Awards 2022 Winners​

• Game of the Year: Elden Ring
• VR Game of the Year: Hitman 3
• Labor of Love: Cyberpunk 2033
• Better with Friends: Raft
• Outstanding Visual Style: Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
• Most Innovative Gameplay: Stray
• Best Game You Suck At: Elden Ring
• Best Soundtrack: Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade
• Outstanding Story-Rich Game: God of War
• Sit Back and Relax: Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

source

 

[Jinzo Prime]

Was there any doubt?

 

[Madflavor]

Don't disagree here but many times....people confuse hand holding with linear games where it is generally clear where you need to go next, but the encounter/next chapter/level itself you have to figure out.

Aloy or Kratos's companions spoiling to you where to go and how to solve puzzles on a constant basis would be a prime example of what I'm talking about.

That was already done with BOTW. That was the game that showed us "it don't give a fuck where we go or what we do with our lives" and it did that in 2017; it took 5 years for another developer to adopt that into their game.

I don't recall BOTW beating the shit outta anyone. Not to the extent as Elden Ring did. I'm not forgetting about BOTW either, but it was 5 years ago and clearly other studios didn't learn any valuable lessons that BOTW taught.

When and where did this happen?

Slight correction but it was a few devs from a few different companies. One was a Quest Designer who worked on Horizon TFW, the other worked at Ubisoft. I believe there was a third who worked on Sony games. There might have been others but those are three I recall.

So, you are telling me that gamers influenced BOTW before its release? No one had any idea what BOTW was going to do with the open world game design.

Ok I'm not sure what you're trying to say here, it sounds like you might have misinterpreted what I said.