2022's Game of the Year

2022’s game of the year was announced a month back, on April 7th, during the Bafta game awards. This year the Game of the Year Award went to the already successful Elden Ring. Elden Ring was given 2 awards during 2020 and 2021 and was one of the most anticipated games since its announcement. Elden Ring has sold over 13.4 millions copies in just one month since its release, making it Fromsoftware Inc.’s most successful game they've ever made. Reviews of Elden Ring from IGN and GameSpot have gotten 10/10 and it scored a 94% on MetaCritic and 95% for Open Critics.

Over the years FromSoftware, also called “Fromsoft,” received awards for Bloodborne, Sekiro, and Dark Souls 2 and 3. Elden Ring has been seen as the most critically acclaimed of them all, from its beautiful gameplay and amazing visuals to its lovely focus on detail and scenery. Elden Ring takes place in “the lands between,” as you, the player, are awoken from what is called “the greater will.” You are then set on a path with 6 alternate endings, each wanting you to become what is called “Elden Lord.” From the amazing hard bosses and scaling between armor and weapons, the game sets an imaginary path to creating your own build for your character.

Elden Ring has been hugely popular since it came out and has inspired people all across the world to create videos, tutorials, fan art, and cosplay. Many people on social media apps like Twitter or Reddit have complained about the game being difficult. For new people, the game will set certain standards during your first play through, and ultimately the game will be easier once the player reaches mid-late game. The exploration aspect of the game allows for a player’s curiosity to go wild, with so many items in the game along with small lore teases and secret bosses; the game puts the player in a constant decision-making mode, forcing them to decide whether to get as powerful as possible and collect hidden items, or to pass the game like its nothing, speedrunner style.

Fromsoft is not done with you yet and I bet you're not done with them either. In a Reddit thread on r/gaming a user asked his fellow gamers of the Souls Bourne community: “What is the hype/appeal behind Fromsoft games? (Elden Ring, Dark Souls, Sekiro etc).” One user responded: “I really love the challenge of the games. It feels like a genuine accomplishment when you beat a boss, or even just a hard opponent.” Another user responded with: “They're games that are designed to be difficult in an environment where most games are meant to appeal to a mass audience.”

Some players of Elden Ring say that the game itself is a flurry of anger, with stressful combat and overwhelming exploration, and that it challenges people with rough game play but also gives them an urge to keep going. This makes for constant complaints, which are bound to happen even if the game was less rough. Despite the challenging nature of the game, it took less than a month for players to complete the game, exposing most secrets and coming out with lore videos. A famous player known as “Let Me Solo Her” set a goal of fighting a boss everyone would agree is the toughest boss in the game, Melaina blade of Miquella. Melaina is what players would agree is a free token to stress heaven. Let Me Solo Her has beaten this boss over 1,000 times now since the game's arrival, and has helped many people struggling to fight her.

When it comes to speedrunners, beating the game is accomplished by how fast you can get items, fight bosses, and level up to make your way to the final boss. Speedrunner “Seeker TV” completed the Elden ring within 5 hours and 58 minutes, far surpassing their original goal of 6 hours 30 minutes. Speedrunners of Elden Ring accomplish this by what Soulsborne gamers call “cheesing'' and by exploiting glitches within the environment and/or of the AI bosses. Some things these glitches do is allow gamers to get past bosses without fighting them or by causing their AI to mess up, making them stand still and ignore the player. Some glitches allow players to phase through game walls or the ground, which allows for easy access to a boss or an area not unlocked yet. Some people might call these Speedrunners hackers or cheaters, but for them it is just a competition to complete the game. In the Speedrunners’ world, the times they are able to accomplish are the same achievement level as beating a very hard boss feels to regular players.

Elden Ring is considered the top game of the year. The reasons for this range from the level of difficulty the game sets for you, the level of detail in the game, and the opportunity to truly explore the world of the game. The game also has good replay value, people who complete the game have more to do than they think after completion. The game offers a lot to the player, with 6 alternate endings, there’s more to explore after a player first “beats” the game. Overall, Elden Ring is a successful game because it gives the player a chance to imagine, to make their character builds interesting, and provides gameplay which truly makes the world of the game come to life.