Elden Ring and GOW: Ragnarök are both game of the year

Now I would like to say on the record that I do not own a PlayStation not because I’m an Xbox person but the fact that is trying to get a PS5 is like trying to find the Holy Grail plus they are very costly. Another note is I have never played a From Software game ever, I have contemplated playing one for the first time with Sekiro but didn’t want to send my controllers into the shadow realm because of my rage. But with that being said let us talk about the debate of who should win Game of the Year or why I think both of these games share the title GOTY (this article is coming out well after GOTY has been announced). But with a 9 month's head start it was prominent that Elden Ring was the clear winner but Ragnarok tried its best and fell just short however this isn’t about why Elden Ring is far better, no this is about how both games are equally deserving of GOTY.

Let’s start with Elden Ring, this game is a tried and true From Software game by Hidetaka Miyazaki and his team that has released fantastic RPG games one after another. With Elden Ring, it’s no different or strays from the Dark Souls formula although the difference of this game is that it’s an open world that doesn’t stray from its predecessor. I forgot to mention that George R.R. Martin the creator of the cultural phenomenon Game of Thrones but back to the game. Elden Ring like previous From Software games before is notorious for being these extra challenging games that can turn the ordinary average joe on the street into a man wanting to turn everything in his path to dust with the fury of a thousand suns, however, with this game as I said before is that it’s an OPEN WORLD game which is a brand new thing that has been bestowed upon to From Software for the first time as previous games have had a set map or areas to progress through and beat the game, Elden Ring said screw that and made this MASSIVE map that could take days, months, and even years to truly explore what this game has to offer not to mention how this game plays with lighting and weather effects and how the topography pretty crazy with massive elevation changes and vast caves with cool atmosphere. Unlike previous From Soft games how diverse and dense the levels and overworld are with so many things that can be done and discovered if you are willing to take that risk. With From Soft games also bring bosses and my goodness there is a lot of them but for the main story there are about 18 that you need to defeat and all will try to kick your ass in more than 18 ways as well which leaves you with another roughly 220 more “bosses” to defeat notice I used quotes for bosses because some don’t classify as a boss more like a high heated with a name. On the note of story this game is rich in visual storytelling and lore book storytelling but to give a rough summary you are a knight or whatever class you are with zero bitches trying to be immortal? Look I haven’t played this game and literally, any game by From Software is going to be hella confusing so that is my gist of what this game is about. Among other things this game lets you ride a horse because look I know they make these games hard but they aren’t savages to make you walk this vast world you could do that on your own if you are some kind of sick masochist. Now this game does have its flaws when it was released in February PC players were reporting frame stuttering which was most likely caused by loading things in but from what I saw it runs smoothly on a console which is crazy to think but now has probably been patched but like I said this game is massive and lets it gameplay, difficulty, and level design do the talking cause Miyazaki doesn’t like a straight forward coherent story you gotta figure that shit out and watch some youtube videos for that but that’s all I have to say on a game that will be talked about for years to come also From Softwares next game is going to be something called Armoured Core which is about fighting robots so everyone is going to eat that up like thanksgiving leftovers now onto Scandinavia for some father-son bonding.

Now with God of War, there is no explanation on how important the first 3 games are (we don’t talk about Ascension) but it changed how a story is told, how brutal and awesome games can be, and a brief and brutal summary of Greek Mythos with Kratos a Spartan General who served Ares the god of war and was also tricked into killing his wife and child unknowingly and swore revenge of those who betrayed him and did so the hard way bringing down Ares taking the mantle of God of War yet it still wasn’t enough for him bringing down the entire Greek Pantheon and burned Olympus to ashes yet the guilt remained. Now you are probably wondering how the hell someone from Greece end up in Scandinavia clashing with the likes of Thor well it's simple Kratos is a demi-god because like in true Greek Mythos Zeus couldn’t keep it in his pants and decided to bang any woman he wanted to (I mean who is going to tell the god of lightning and king of Mount. Olympus no?) and was also bestowed the title God of War by Zeus himself this is the video games retelling, not the actual greek myth although the part in the parentheses is true at the end of GOW 3 Kratos had the power to restore Olympus and reset all the destruction he caused but stabbed himself and making sure something like this does not happen again but at the end, he is bleeding out before the end credits roll but after only the blade he drove into himself remained with a trail of blood going off screen meaning he is a man to angry to die. I’m gonna make this part quick as I have realized I’ve strayed off the path of what this article is about in a comic he ends up making a stop in Egypt and then came to the shores of Scandinavia where he met Faye had a child named Atreus and……. Oh, what the hell go watch some videos about this I don’t have time to explain this. GOW 2018 was amazing and did what a lot of games don’t do much of and that tells a downright movie-worthy story about a grieving father trying to spread his wife's ashes in the highest peak in all the realms and also trying to be a kind and loving father now that it is just him and him only but trying to keep his past a secret. Spoiler alert but Kratos does end up telling his son Atreus where his Father is from and how he too is also a god but it isn’t until after you reach the highest peak in all the realms it is revealed that Kratos’ wife was one of the last giants and Atreus as well is a giant and is known as Loki. Now both the 2018 game and the most recent game don’t bring anything new to the table gameplay-wise other than having a companion to help you and obtaining a new weapon in a spear and playing as Atreus which you weren’t able to do in the previous installment but where this game shines is the storytelling when I tell you watching a cutscene only video of the game (it was seven hours but I watched installments not the whole thing I’m not crazy) I was blown away cause it felt like a movie unlike the first game trying to find out who Atreus is this game it expands on it as he is now a teenager trying to find out more about himself. Also if you followed Norse Mythology and the previous game the main villain was Baldur a Norse god and son of Fryea who was blessed or in this case tricked by Odin to be invulnerable by both physical and magical harm although the only thing that harmed him was mistletoe which is a very confusing thing that I’m not going to explain his death leads to Fimbulvetr and then Ragnarok. Now I stated before or if I haven’t stated this game doesn’t stray or bring anything new gameplay-wise other than playing as Atreus and getting the Draupnir Spear which is used to do what this game does best kill gods although, in the 2018 game, there wasn’t an emphasis on that as we see some of if not the best character development in gaming history by turning a man fueled by bloodlust and rage to a man who is trying to be a loving father while trying to make sure that his son does not follow the path he once walked. Now like in actual Norse Mythos Fimbulvetr is a very long winter that leads to Ragnarok which is the death and destruction of some major Norse gods like Odin, Thor, Heimdall, and some other notable gods however like in previous games they do take some artistic liberties when it comes to Mythology but it doesn’t stray too far from the actual mythos. But all in all, it was a fantastic game. With that being said I view these games as yin and yang because both balance each other well, while one is gameplay oriented the other, is storytelling driven. But to summarize I want to thank my orthodox rabbi friend Bill Clinton.

Thank you.