Should God of War: Ragnarok have won the Game of the Year award?
Prelude
With how good God of War 2018 was, God of War: Ragnarok was close to half the reason why I bought a PlayStation 5 in the first place. The thought of waiting years to play this game was literally tearing on my mind. The fact that the game came bundled with the console that I bought couldn't have been more perfect.
Having already played and completed 100% of Elden Ring, which actually won the Game of the Year award, and laughed at all the God of War fanboys who review bombed Elden Ring after it won I was quite eager to return to Midgard and find out for myself which of the two games deserved the Game of the Year award more.
Having now completed the game my mind is fully made up.
No
Did God of War: Ragnarok deserve to win the Game of the Year award? I'll let Kratos answer for himself (minor spoiler from the first 10 minutes of the game below):
Seeing as God of War (2018) won back in 2018 it would actually have been quite a travesty if God of War: Ragnarok ended up winning the award the same year something as grand as Elden Ring released. It would simply have been wrong.
From the very beginning God of War: Ragnarok felt like one huge DLC. From a game-play perspective there's basically nothing new and differing from the prequel. They made Kratos forget all his skills, downgraded his weapons, threw away his armor and then expanded on the story. While the new skills you get are different from the prequel they mostly feel the same.
God of War: Ragnarok is simply "more of the good stuff" and in my opinion that is not deserving of winning the Game of the Year award twice in four years. Luckily, "more of the good stuff" still makes for one of the best gaming experiences out there.
The good stuff
The story in God of War: Ragnarok is undeniably fantastic. The seamless transitions between game-play and cutscenes, the lack of loading screens and amazing world design makes it one of the most immersive experiences I've ever had. If there's one award this game, and this game only, deserved it was the Best Narrative award, which it also won.
The world design, as I've already mentioned, is something else in this game. Never have I seen a game that's done world design better. Every location in this game is as atmospheric as it can get. The attention to detail is insane. It's the true definition of Next Generation and I feel like it's gonna take years before we see a game that's going to reach God of War: Ragnaroks level of world design.
The voice acting is also second to none. I'm not sure if there is an award for Best Voice Actor but if there is then God of War: Ragnarok should have won it. Christopher Judge did however win the Best Performance award for his role as Kratos which was very much deserved. They also hit the nail on the head with their voice actor for Odin. Throughout the entire game it was impossible to know if you could trust a single word coming out of his mouth and that's thanks to his voice actor, Richard Schiff.
Every gamer out there deserves to experience a game like this. If you who reads this haven't played this game you need to add it to your bucket list. It doesn't matter if it takes months or years. Just do it. There is no way you can end up regretting it.
There's lots I still have to say about this game but for now I just had to get these few points off my chest. Don't let Kratos trip you on your way out.
All images in this post are screenshots taken by me.
Well the 2018 game won so it would have been very controversial if Ragnarok had won as well, I mean the game wasn't a revolution but more of a refinement of what was already seen. However I don't agree with Elden Ring winning either lol. I think the Souls-like games are starting to become a bit overrated. This is just my personal opinion of course 😅
My point exactly. Although the Dark Souls games are perfectly rated as they are. Fantastic games.
It definitely won like 4 to 5 awards by itself in the 2022 Game Awards, so it would have been likely to be controversial to see it take GOTY on top of everything else (not because of GOW winning in 2018, but because of other runner ups in other awards being shot down by GOWR)...but I think that your points definitely sum up why it couldn't have taken Elden Ring's spot this time around.
With how huge yet new Elden Ring was, as well as being one of the most hyped games ever since its very first reveal (I still remember a lot of people being concerned about that quick Malenia trailer being the only thing seen about the game for years lol), it makes sense that it won the biggest award compared to Ragnarok, and even then, even if your favorite game didn't win "game of the year" or other awards (like some people might have felt about the awards that GOWR did get lol), it won't change that a great game is a great game, and that no one can take away your own experience enjoying it.
Well Elden Ring also won 4 awards including the Game of the Year award. They did a nice job of drip-feeding stuff about Elden Ring leading up to it. Not doing to much themselves to hype up the game. They knew the public would do it for them.
I can only say that I agree that it feels more like a huge DLC than another independent title, I say it here in my ignorance since I haven't actually played either of the two PS4/PS5 GOWs, but at least I've seen a couple of gameplays, of course it's still a good game, it will be that I save for the PS7, if I start now I may have the money by the time it comes out, then I will be able to play it haha.
Claro yo creo que el primer GOTY que gano God of war es debido al gran cambio que tuvo en comparación con otras de sus entregas sumados a todo el apartado artistico y mecanico, si con el nuevo juego se premiara lo mismo no seria justo. Tampoco seria viable cambiar tanto el juego como para innovarlo ya que los anteriores jugadores se sentirian muy desorientados, en fin es otro juego que amplia la historia.
Que bueno poder tener un punto de vista critico y no meramente de gustos o fanatismo.
I'm always an Elden Ring fan but let's see after I play this game. I've been hearing a lot about God Of War so maybe it's time to add this to my bucket list for this year.
wittyzell, the god of war. WOOHOO!
God of War really is fantastic and very accessible to all kinds of gamers.
I checked the game in amazon today and surprised it's so expensive! Waaaa
Hmm, actually it's already on discount now but it's still way beyond my budget 😣
Will wait more, who knows price might decrease more
I've been thinking at it as well, could God of war ragnarok would have won 2022? definitely. But against Elden Ring? it's going to be an uphill battle.
It's a sequel fighting off against new series.
But yes, while my sentiment was Elden Ring would win, I wouldn't be surprised if God of War: Ragnarok won. It's has a great story and an epic narrative.
like in the technical standpoint, Elden Ring isn't able to pump stable 60 fps on consoles and slightly older generation computers.
and while I understand Elden Ring's combat system is a repeat of pretty all the games from FromSoftware. It works, It's actually a masterpiece.
Elden Ring is simply superior.
it offers the player choice. choice of doing anything or nothing and I really like that.
I really hope they have the budget now to upgrade their game engine from here on out.
A new game engine would be cool. As long as they don't change to much from the core mechanics I'm all for it. I need me some more Elden Ring lore as well. Hope we get to see that DLC soon.
OOOOH ME AS WELL, I REALLY LIKE the rumored Miquella's dreamworld. and I hope it really is. 😊 I will autobuy that.
I was hoping for Marika's Tits but Miquella would be cool to.
LAWL. prawn seller. HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA
Now I won't be able to say if it should have gotten the GOTY award.
BUT!
I can say that I was never fond of GOW but the last one was so appealing I bought it before Christmas last year or just the GOW not ragnarok... And thanks for reminding me to start downloading it.
I completely forgot about it during holidays
Get to it! God of War 2018 was fantastic.
I didn't know that God of War (2018) won back in 2018. So, yeah that decreases the chance of the last version winning again but still this game has the potential in my sense although I haven't tried it but I cane sense it after watching some gameplays and witnessing some screenshots with great graphics.
@tipu curate 10
Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 0/55) Liquid rewards.
IMHO, GOW is just a combination of Resident Evil 4 and God of War 2 gameplays on the PS2 embellished with next-gen graphics. So no award there.
I'm sure this game is great and I hope to play it one day, even though I haven't played it yet. I haven't played the first God of War game yet and I want to play that one too, so hopefully I'll have enough time for all of them. I've watched a little bit of the game on YouTube but not all of it because I want to be surprised when I play it.
That was one intense 'NO' 😉🤙
yea, the game looks great, but since the series already won before, and all the other games..
I totally agree with what you say, although I found the mechanics more of the same, other aspects such as the narrative, the photography and the artwork fascinated me, without a doubt
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In my opinion, the PC version deserves a mention here. It was a real revolution. If anyone hasn't played it, I recommend this post: https://royalcdkeys.com/products/god-of-war-steam-cd-key