Luke's Pick For GAME OF THE YEAR

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#goty #gaming #thegameawards

[@LukeStephensTV]

While Bill Clinton was a worthy nominee, he didn’t make the cut. Apologies to everyone who loves him as a rabbi.

[@pyramidschemer4083]

I loved Bill Clinton, he totally bar mitzvah'd all over Kratos and Godfrey

[@jesse100yrsago]

elden ring bill clinton dlc needs to drop now

[@hectoralvarado4727]

Heartbroken

[@coreycasciano3255]

That shit was so random 🤣

[@Yourmoms12345]

I don’t feel elden ring deserves the praise it gets. Not only did it do more of the same but I dare say it’s worse. The game funnels you toward the end of the game while the opening is just that open you can do whatever you want. Overall poor final bosses not well thought out hurts the whole experience. The side bosses should not be better or function better then the main bosses. God of war , the quarry , marvels midnight suns. These games kept me and my whole family glued to chairs while we binged the entire game. Yes people who are not playing want to sit and watch me finish a game. To many games are rushed , to many are unoriginal prequels . To many games are now80-100 dollar cash grabs, which by the way most are not worth. God of war deserves it let alone won it. Story is cohesive , I personally had no glitches the entire play-through . Time spent was meaningful overall well worth the price and then some.

[@lukerhead5370]

It was neck and neck, but I think we can all agree that Reformed Orthadox Rabbi Bill Clinton rightfully deserved the GOTY award.

[@nefariouskenobi2594]

Finally a comment I can agree with about the game awards

[@ChaseSchleich]

He didn't win. He only got a late nomination. If he'd been nominated PRIOR to the award going out, then maybe he would have had a chance at winning.

[@MyNamesComics]

Luke the type of guy to pick Gotham knights

[@LukeStephensTV]

I really am… should done that… oops. Next year it’ll be even funnier 😂

[@MyNamesComics]

@@LukeStephensTV gotta mess with everyone a little bit, it will be funny😂

[@ChaseSchleich]

@@LukeStephensTV Oh definitely. Gotham Knights isn't just the best game of 2022. It's so good it's winning best game of 2023 as well. In all actuality, GameFly sent me Gotham Knights a few days ago and I still haven't opened it. I'm a huge Arkham game fan, but Gotham Knights has me so uninterested, I can't even get up the will power to open the envelope.

[@MyNamesComics]

@UCUMjPZMU1PXHlzR1uuAUDGg I’m sorry

[@ethanjames0311]

While for me personally it’s God of War Ragnarok because i just fell more in love with its cinematic world and story, it wasn’t until Luke explained his reason for Elden Ring that I agreed. Elden Ring is 100% the game so many other studios are going to aim to replicate. You just know Ubisoft is eying it like they did Breath of the Wild and The Witcher. It’s effect on the industry will be more noticeable so yeah, it’s probably game of the year. GoW is a more singular experience. You can replicate gameplay but not story. Narrative driven games with such a high focus on cinematics are too much for most companies to attempt. More importantly it’s a lot of work for companies who just want to copy and paste a formula. While most of the Elden Ring clones will be no where near the same quality as FromSoftwares work, it will still likely result in a gem here and there.

[@charlesqbanks]

Narratives can be very formulaic, especially for the AAA industry, and while one might think gameplay may be easily replicable, there is no game that has emulated the Soulsborne formula nearly as effectively as Fromsoft.

[@javiermd5835]

But that’s because of how absurdly popular the open world genre is, and that doesn’t make it better per se. I really liked ER, but the game has serious issues most journos overlooked and gave it a free pass. And the main issue is this: it’s essentially the same game From Software’s been making for years, placed in a massive open world without tweaking the right pieces. The first hours of the game are phenomenal, but once you start to see the pattenrs of the open world the game reveals itself. It literally has issues that if it was made by Ubisoft journos would’ve called it out loudly, but it’s FromSoft and Miyazaki-sama teaming up with George that appears in the credits. What could they do wrong?! In what universe?!

[@joseftangpuz2050]

So you like movie games. No shade just that movie game are sony's way to make games these days

[@ethanjames0311]

@@javiermd5835 Indeed. I think it being the same old FromSoft type game didn’t bother me so much because each new weapon and such can change how you play enough to keep it fresh. And each location is a delight to explore if you enjoy the lore enough. My main issues with Elden Ring actually came from the boss design. There are some great videos on KZbin that explain it better than I ever could, but let’s just say too many bosses are designed in such a way that they are simply unfair. It’s not about skill, it’s about what attacks they happen to use at any particular moment. Sometimes there is literally nothing you can do to defend yourself. If Ubisoft had made it though I think it would have been worse. Enemies would be more generic while also being more damage spongy. The weapon types wouldn’t vary enough to change up gameplay… until half a dozen were released on the online store for micro transactions anyway.

[@Pontif11]

@@javiermd5835 Frankly, yeah i'd also give ER a break on some of its short comings as a journalist, besides the technical ones. Largely because there is so much great meat around that bone that i'm not going to focus too much on the part where a fly sat.

[@shane3744]

Glad you pointed out the PC problems that Elden Ring had at launch. I'm playing it now and even still I experience some stuttering and framerate drops. Another thing to point out is the not-so-great accessibility options, especially for PC. The button prompts default to console buttons; I had to actually Google how to navigate the menu with a keyboard lol. But man if Elden Ring isn't amazing. Such highs and lows, weird and unexpected things about the world, amazing combat, and my jaw literally dropped several times.

[@lesterparker1594]

I played it on ps4 and it was the greatest game I’ve ever played. My son had it downloaded and I played it without knowing anything about it or dark souls games. 110 hours later I’m still obsessed. I did buy my son a ps5 and god of war for Xmas. I’ll play it when he’s done with it then I could compare. But there’s no way it passes elden ring

[@okage6219]

Who plays souls games with mouse and keyboard lmao

[@shane3744]

@@okage6219 Grow up.

[@flamingmanure]

its highs are substantially higher than their previous games and its lows are still no where near as bad as say, bbs chalices or DS1s lizalith. easily the best gave fromsoft ever made and goddaym i really dont think they can replicate the magic of playing this game the 1st time ever again...awell atleast imo.

[@okage6219]

@@flamingmanure how are chalice dungeons bad?

[@SpiritHorizon]

This is how i would rank the Games i played from this Year:😊 1. God of War: Ragnarök 2. Elden Ring 3. Horizon: Forbidden West 4. Soulstice 5. Stray 6. Ghostwire: Tokyo 7. Thymesia 8. The Callisto Protocol 9. A Plaque Tale: Requiem Games that I still want to play: - Deaths Door - Evil West - The Chant - Need for Speed: Unbound - Devil in Me - The Quarry - Sifu

[@shockshow9823]

What, soulstice over thymesia and plaguetale? What game did i play then

[@SpiritHorizon]

@@shockshow9823 i Love soulstice. And i Love Games Like this , soulstice is similar to devil May Cry

[@shockshow9823]

@@SpiritHorizon i love devil may cry aswell but other then combat soulstice felt like empty and camera fucked me hard 🤣 thats why i asked how you considered that a better game then plaguetale. But everyone likes something else. Have a good one

[@Billuhhanks]

Sifu was so fun if you like martial arts games

[@darkoale3299]

Death's Door is awesome!

[@ChaseSchleich]

The rats in a Plague Tale are very similar to a water simulation, especially later in the game when there's literally waves of them crashing through walls and exploding through floors. Wouldn't be shocked if they used CG water/wave simulations in order to have that many rats on screen and moving like that.

[@atquinn1975]

Elden Ring and Paradise Killer (not released this year) were by far the best games I played this year.

[@Curt_Randall]

Stray keeps getting shorter everytime people talk about it. 6 hours, 5, 4, now apparently Luke says its only 3. Eventually it will only be 1.

[@drschwandi3687]

It is very short and most of the content are fetchquests

[@FeviviViper]

It’s a 2.5-3 hour game. I mean there’s literally a trophy you unlock for beating the game in 2 hours or less lmao

[@AssClapCowboy]

@@FeviviViper it’s only 3 hours if you play like an idiot and rush the experience. You can easily make it last 6-8 hours by just exploring and doing side stuff. I got all the trophies including the speedrun and no one should be beating it at 3 hours on their first go

[@darkoale3299]

Took me about 8 or so hours.

[@Pumba424]

Really sad that neon white isn’t being mentioned more often with best indies. Glad it got nominated at the game awards at least.

[@Space_Ache]

Ragnarok is my favorite game of the year. Elden Ring is THE game of the year. It does something magical that cannot be replicated in a board room. As much as I love the conclusion to the Norse God of War saga and again, it is my personal GOTY, Elden Ring is objectively the greatest game released in 2022.

[@darkoale3299]

Here, Here

[@paddington2063]

Completely disagree that GOW subverts expectations in its story. Follows the classic narrative structure to a T. If anything, it’s gameplay is what truly shines but even then, it’s flawed with pacing issue. All this being said, it’s an S-tier game, but behind ER for me.

[@MrSiloterio]

The award speaks for itself - it's "Game" of the year; not "story" of the year. That's why the overall design of game mechanics should be the main criteria in judging this - because it's the only thing that makes games games.

[@John-996]

Story is massive Part of games along side the open world and Interactivity of the world. GOWR has a great story, Great exploration and Soild combat. Its should be GOTY based off what the game awards criteria is. Elden Ring lacks the interesting Lore that Bloodbourne had. and its lacking the Fuild combat that Bloodbourne and Sekrio had. The boss fight design is also not as good.

[@rashestmussel4548]

Didn't play a whole lot of games this year, but GOTY for me has to be A Plague Tale: Requiem. Probably the most impactful and memorable game I've played since I first played The Witcher 3. The voice acting is just so well done

[@evansinclair1999]

I agree with that my man haven’t played either god of wars yet but both plague tale games moved me in a way that I haven’t experienced since the last of us part II I had a blast playing it

[@spectralassassin6030]

@@evansinclair1999 "Must resist urge to shit on TLoU2."

[@evansinclair1999]

@@spectralassassin6030 keep resisting bud

[@bismarck5537]

An absolutely phenomenal game. It isn’t that well known because it is not a AAA title and most famous streamers don’t even play it. The fact that the Asobo Studio pulled that off with less people than most AAA games is insane. The music score, the graphics, the gameplay and most importantly, the cinematic experience is top notch. Sadly, there are multiple AAA beasts this year on every category which are truly good so it wasn’t able to win any awards. That being said, being nominated is already an honor. If Chris Judge wasn’t one of the nominees, I am pretty sure Charlotte McBurney who voiced Amecia would have definitely won the best performance. She clearly made me feel Amecia’s emotions for every fcked up situations they were in. She did a wonderful job. It’s insane that A plague Tale Innocence was her first gig as a voice actor.

[@PKDeviluke25]

I agree, it was amazing.

[@CouchCoop128]

Awesome vid! I just finished my equivalent. Quick question, what's with the large white text at the start putting on screen what you're saying? Help me understand ?

[@macabrevoid]

Luke, you should definitely checkout Evolve Stage 2. The game recently has been making a slow but sure comeback, with 2K themselves saying recently that their planning to help the game. Today they opened the game's shop back up after it was taken down in the game's initial shutdown. It's a game that has many flaws but big potential, and being a 4v1 assymetrical shooter, it definitely has a chance to reclaim its former glory in this gaming landscape, if development is put back into it. A whole discord of players has helped this game get back, called the Evolve Reunited 2.0 Server. People there you can talk to and get help for understanding the game.

[@rocstarang5747]

The older I get the less patience I have for these "cinematic experiences". I find myself rolling my eyes at unskippable cut scenes these days. *Elden Ring* was the easy choice for me.

[@NamanArusia]

I really appreciate Luke's strong stance against technical issues plaguing modern AAA games. He is among a very few mainstream gaming media figures, who has taken such a strong stance against launch issues. We are slowly becoming way too forgiving of games and developers/publishers for launch issues. Imagine buying a car and being expected to be okay it shutting off randomly, or having frantic unpredictable response curves on fundamental interactions (like steering/acceleration/braking etc), because you have bought it and cannot be furious cause its hasn't been first 1000 miles yet.

[@Sokka_Games]

Played ER at launch and went through to NG+3 on Series X and honestly never really had any notable performances issues. 🤷🏻 While ER doesn’t have an immediate narrative story to follow the world building and the story that is there is amazing. I’m sure GOW is amazing as well and i have watched most of it but with it being an exclusive and the lack of availability on the PS5’s i’ll probably never get a chance to play it.

[@Thisisthegreatestatofalltime]

It was mainly just PC even on PS4 there was (is?) less stuttering.

[@zaristarian1200]

I wasn't sure if I should play Forbidden West (FW) or Elden Ring (ER) but I thought maybe play FW first because after what I heard about ER I had the fear that I wouldn't have fun with FW after playing ER. So I had much fun playing FW first and I loved it but boy was I right, when I played ER, FW seemed so bland.

[@introduction1266]

I don't understand what you're saying elaborate

[@Mako01010]

@@introduction1266he’s saying Elden Ring is so good it makes HFW seem bad in comparison

[@introduction1266]

@@Mako01010 ok well he's wrong then cuz horizon is better.

[@Mako01010]

@@introduction1266 horizon is not better. Not even close. It isn’t better than ER or GoW lmfao

[@John-996]

@@Mako01010 HFW is objectivly better in production vaule the rest is subjective.

[@freddifrosk123]

3-5 hours ragnarok critique. i cant wait. better get the popcorn ready, this is gonna be a juicy one

[@ismaelapellido2666]

Im excited for Horizon 3 just to see which goty will be released at the same time 😅

[@MalikATL]

I hate being a Horizon fan feels like everybody hates the game wish more people would like it and I hate when people say it’s woke or not a video game

[@matthewjalovick]

@@MalikATL nah, it’s not that anyone hates it. It’s that Sony doesn’t seem to care at all that both titles have been released at the exact same time as goliaths (Breath of the Wild and then Elden Ring) and are setting them up for failure. Sony needs to demonstrate more care for their IP.

[@morbillionaire]

@@MalikATL what

[@DaPeasant]

@@MalikATL the woke story isn't the issue. It's the story itself, no fret though it's just my personal tastes. I don't like the show See for the same reason, they take elements from the real world and come up with some bonkers religion aspect for world building. The game looks amazing though, and I like the combat. It's not a completely unlikable game, but if your main pull in a game is narrative it's hard to keep playing if you don't the story being told.

[@John-996]

Lets hope its does not come out close to GTA 6 or TES6.

[@fierce8943]

Love what you’re doing here m’dude. Keep er up.

[@zyonhenderson67]

I think we had a very diverse year of genres and games to me

[@BrazilianPride22041]

Nah, it's gonna be the Witcher 3 next-gen 😆

[@LukeStephensTV]

Can confirm it’s great

[@rocketmaniscool]

I really enjoyed this, Luke. You the man.

[@MaxGaming-vd4sl]

Im curious, What did y’all think of the world, worldbuilding and puzzles in Horizon? I thought they stood out among all the other games of this year.

[@Mixx178]

Great job man this year Thanks for making your video digestible in size now lol

[@lustrazor44]

The reason I can’t give it to Ragnarok is…well its 2018 GoW but a bit more refined. Elden Ring changed open world design and took a linear metroidvania genre and applied it to an open world beautifully. One iterated and one innovated. 2018 GoW was much more exciting as it was “new and fresh”. Ragnarok just felt like more of the same (that’s not bad). That’s just why I can’t give it to Ragnarok. People are replaying ER over and over and over again. There’s a huge community. Developers were crying about its success because their land game wasn’t getting any attention. ALL discussion for the year was about Elden ring. GoW doesn’t have that.

[@introduction1266]

there's nothing innovative about elden ring. it can be a great game but there is nothing unique. elden ring completion rate is absolutely horrible so I don't know where you got people are playing it over again when they can't get through the 3rd boss in the first playthrough haha. there's a huge community for every game. devs never cried that's a lie that spread without people actually looking at what was said. just like you can criticize a game...they can to. and if you're referring to that over 22 million copies sold franchise...then you are out of your mind if you think they worrying about not getting enough attention. that's absolutely hilarious. the vocal minority discussion was about elden ring...the rest of us normal gamers were talking about numerous games this year including gow

[@aquiler3959]

@@introduction1266 horrible completion rate? What are you talking about? A good 35% have beaten the hardest boss on steam, thats a great completion rate

[@introduction1266]

@@aquiler3959 that's steam i'm talking about overall. also that's still not beating the whole game.

[@aquiler3959]

@@introduction1266 I can’t imagine it being way lower anywhere else You can’t get an exact number from the achievements, but about 38% beat the second to last boss, and since the last boss comes right after him, the numbers are probably somewhere around 35% So, yes, very beatable, even for normal people

[@introduction1266]

@@aquiler3959 then you haven't seen anything other than steam. I have and it is lower than alot of games including gow and horizon. on steam sure. doesn't mean most people are gonna spend hours upon hours grinding to beat the boss. I've seen numerous people not finish it on youtube.

[@thomassisson5103]

Thank you for the excellent content...but your drive-by shooting of Forbidden West is one of the hottest takes this year. Perhaps I am in the overwhelming minority, but grinding for stats, materials, XP...especially in a game I am enjoying...is not a negative to me. I just wanted to spend as much time as I could in that world.

[@VykeKing]

Just like Zero Dawn I ended up quitting Forbidden West 8-12hrs into it for the same exact reasons.. The story is insanely boring, the characters aren't interesting and Alloy is the most boring protagonist I played as.

[@araaraavery]

yeah... the real hot take is thinking someone who says horizon is bad has a hot take xD

[@introduction1266]

trust me you are in the majority just the vocal minority talks alot and loud while all the real fans keep to themselves and play the game. something elden ring fanboys have a habit of not doing. he was speaking straight up nonsense when he said it was grindy...the last game was grindy but this right here...I get points and upgrades skill in every single thing I do. the resources are stored in a unlimited stash thank god and you don't have to find alot of them. I'm currently playing it now and it is definitely becoming one of my favorite games ever period. the world is beautiful, story is great and very interesting, alot of the soundtrack slaps. very rarely do I get 100% in a game but i'm gonna do it for this one

[@isuckatgaming1182]

@@introduction1266 real fans keep quiet, what you doing here?

[@introduction1266]

@@isuckatgaming1182 talking to a fellow horizon fan...what about you clown boy?

[@evansinclair1999]

What a fantastic year for gaming, I enjoyed them all. There was something I loved in them all but imo so far (I haven’t played god of war yet) as far as an emotional narrative game plague tale requiem takes the cake I may change my mind when I play god of war but man was it an emotional roller coaster I also sobbed at the end 😂 And for general overall game of the year I gotta give it to HFW I loved elden ring but I couldn’t stick with it after 40 hours I lost interest little by little (im more of a narrative focused kind of player as I don’t have a whole lot of time to play and need something extra to keep me invested) and the I started horizon and before I knew it I sunk almost 200hrs in Horizon forbidden west and i haven’t played that much of a game in a long time. Everything from the world building, the level of detail, the story, the improved mo-capped cut scenes and voice acting was so good. It felt like a true sequel that took what the game could be to the next level. It wasn’t a perfect game but all the issues that came with the game weren’t enough to ruin my experience. I’m very glad we got so many great games this year tho

[@ShakirraR]

Ragnarok and Forbidden West were probably 2 of the most fun games I played all year. I think HFW improved on every issue I had with the first game. But I GOWR is my goty because the story was phenomenal.

[@evansinclair1999]

@@ShakirraR I felt the same way about HFW and I’m excited to play god of war I haven’t even played the first one yet but I just started I know it’s gonna be great

[@introduction1266]

@The Rotten💯 most games these days have way better stories than movies. give it a chance instead of actively hating it. there's a reason why hollywood is running out of ideas and adapting tons of video games.

[@evansinclair1999]

@The Rotten💯 that’s really interesting bro I don’t knock ya play what you like and I absolutely get what you mean sometimes I just wanna game and destroy stuff and have fun and kill some time. I just really really like stories in all mediums and idk it probably has to do with my upbringing being that the last of us was one of the first games I’ve ever played as a kid and loving it. I just think it’s great that stories can be told in this interactive way. But I get if you wanna just be in the mayhem and playing a video game. Elden ring was deserved the recognition that it got it just isn’t my personal favorite of this year

[@introduction1266]

@The Rotten💯 yea I figured you was an old timer lol. I still highly recommend really getting into them because once you get really invested in the story and immersed it's a great unique feeling like no other. story driven games are just amazing. you can play the game but it means even more when there's a why, how, an actual goal and characters that you connect with on a personal level because you are literally living through them and walking in their shoes. it's still mostly gameplay. even al pacino said story driven games are great at the game awards yesterday and he's been around in movies from 10-30 years ago.

[@Larzinius]

Your Office looks amazing man.

[@LukeStephensTV]

Thank you!

[@umthomp]

Ahahaha that Will Farrell clip was purrrfect

[@impreza2874]

Jus had to come say I didn’t know your set up looked like that and it looks amazing man

[@reganmccarthy8409]

I’m honestly saddened that Horizon didn’t get a lot more love than it did, for me it was my GOTY but also one of my favourite games of all time. I loved the story, characters, but most of all the world, the environments were utterly breathtaking I often couldn’t believe how amazing the game looks. I hope they’ll make another and I’m very excited for the DLC.

[@namasivayamp5138]

Bro, did you even try gow or elden ring? ,🥲 I like forbidden west, but world was not lively. Story is good , gameplay is best than other Games. But we need some change so they might improve on that

[@reganmccarthy8409]

@@namasivayamp5138 yeah man I love Elden Ring, beat it twice, amazing game. GoW I’ve never been a big fan of but I have played it. Horizon just hit different for me, I really loved it.

[@Trace153]

Great break down of your logic, it made perfect sense to why you picked what you picked.

[@DdHenley307]

I personally have Ragnorak as the 5th best game I've played this year. Right behind GOW 2018 at 4th but could interchange because they feel identical ,15 -20 hours of cool game followed by just wanting it to be over . Days Gone at 3 because with most of the bugs gone , that game is great

[@paranikumarlpk]

What's 1 and 2 ?

[@Nighhhts]

Combat is the most important part of gameplay, and combat does not only the story better but the combat better as well.

[@minners71]

My game of the year is the game I've spent more time playing and the game that has given me the most enjoyment this year, Firewall Zero Hour PSVR. Yes It's over 4 years old but it's still my game of the year with one of the best communities I've ever been part of.

[@ahayoziel3210]

״but hi, it’s a channel named after me. I can do what ever I want.” Hahahah 😂

[@Cyruseh]

It is funny cause i do think elden ring is going to have a longer impact in gaming even though i have gow as my goty I still loved the 100 hours i put into elden ring and want open world game designers to take notes

[@spectralassassin6030]

They'll take notes but for most, it'll only be surface level notes.

[@jesustyronechrist2330]

Largely agree with the rating. Yeah, the only game I bought that came this year is Elden Ring, but... I dunno. I love it, I appreciate it, but it burned me out. 90 hours in and I still haven't finished it... I even started a new playthrough, but burned out again. So I typically end up just making any game I happened to play as the GOTY. My actual game of the year is gonna come super late and that's The Forgotten City. Been playing it on the Steam Deck, haven't even finished it yet, but it definitely exceeded my expectations. It also really highlighted how stupid I am: It is a game I've been looking at for a while now, I knew it would be a game I would enjoy, yet for some reason (not money) I had to wait for few years after its release to play it? I get this feeling of "I would really enjoy this game... Right?". It's an odd form of doubt, as if I'm afraid and so pessimistic that the game is just gonna flop for me. But it never does.

[@pinkpanther6443]

Isn't starting a new playthrough while you are still in mid playthrough makes the whole bruned out situation even worse? I think taking a break for a while and then coming back to finish the same playthrough that you spent 90 hours in would be much more helpful

[@Praxss]

24:58 I would still say rdr2 is on first place in my mind regarding this Then botw and then elden ring

[@kdahlwilson3472]

That was the best explanation of God of war I've heard. I swear everything I expected them to do going into the game they gave us and then some.. Especially playing with Atreus and Kratos alone.. Getting a chance to play with Thor as an ally. And much more. Not like they gave us anything incredibly new, but everything they expanded on they did perfectly.

[@MrSpartan993]

I call that the Perfect Sequel aka the Halo 2 Effect.

[@sator_project]

I understand wanting to keep devs honest with their day one performance. But also, the current trend of launching things on 5 platforms, and users expecting different performance modes on each, seems a bit untenable. Like half of all videos about disastrous games open with 'they thought it was a good idea to target all 3 consoles' I understand that probably means games should stagger launches across their intended platforms. But even with the whole 60FPS debate, there feels like this rhetoric of 'we want it on next gen, and last gen, and PC, and it needs to have an RTX mode, and performance mode, and it's all got to be day one'. What's getting written off as, 'keeping devs honest', or 'reasonable next gen expectations' are in fact major trade off in how a game developed and not as easy as 'just do better'. Main point, don't pre order games, and can Phil Spencer please just buy us all gaming PCs to simplify development.

[@JorgeRodriguez-xz5ec]

Hogwarts legacy is my most anticipated game as well. And yeah, I loved ragnarok, but I'm playing elden ring again (3rd time) and it's just amazing. Way above any other open world game.

[@AshLink07]

A question, are you also excited for Legend of Zelda. That is my most anticipated game for 2023 and can’t wait to see what they accomplish

[@dongxx]

Did this dude just called the quarry lighthearted?

[@MysticalGamer365]

Luke i am shocked!!! i thought for sure you would have picked the masterpiece that was Saints Row lol.

[@Silverguise]

Sifu isn't getting enough recognition sadly.

[@thecapn3560]

I think elden ring had the advantage of being the first “new” next gen game. At least for me, I was so hungry for something new and it had been years since a decent game came out. Coming out at the perfect time, I feel like it got much more exposure than it would have otherwise. Ragnarok was great but it lacked crucial payoffs. As a game it’s better than 2018, but as a whole package it’s lacking the great mythology and mystery of the first.

[@iamsuperskanick]

My two consecutive thoughts on the Dark Tide footage: “Wow, that’s pretty. Damn, Luke must’ve set the FOV slider to YES.” 🤣 Could just be how I’m watching it, though. Game looks sick.

[@zixxth6377]

Uh, I realllly want to know which track from Horizon's soundtrack did you use with the game but I haven't played it yet and don't want to get myself spoiled by the names of the tracks in the soundtrack. I am on PC, so that explains why I haven't played it yet. If anyone can help me out here, that'd be DEEPLY appreciated.

[@zimmy4868]

Vampire Survivors is my indie game of the year. The most fun/addictive game I’ve played in ages. Rollerdrome is a close second.

[@klittiegoldberg7181]

Thank you for honest and constructive reviews. Kind of reminds me of what destructoid used to do

[@TheSnoozeFox]

Signalis is without a doubt my GOTY it’s been years since I’ve played a truly great survival horror game

[@artheals8869]

God of War is an amazing narrative game, but it also has an amazing combat system and a pretty fun end game in itself. Not that I’m mad at your choice I just felt like you failed to mention God of War’s gameplay prowess as well.

[@improbablyyourdad8458]

Fromsoft fans aren’t objective. Elden Ring has no story, it’s a copy and paste of every Fromsoft game, the combat is literally just slashing and rolling, etc. These games are praised by nuthuggers for “difficulty” that only exists because of poor game design.

[@artheals8869]

@@improbablyyourdad8458 I’d disagree that there is no story. Now the way the story is presented and the actual gameplay loop of souls-borne games, I’m not particularly a fan of, because it feels like there’s no real forward progression and I’m personally hugely character driven when it comes to being invested in video games, and since these games’ characters are all very understated, it’s hard for me to really be engaged with them. However, the rpg mechanics and that grind of learning a bosses attack patterns and the euphoric feeling of finally beating it, I can understand. God of War has that same feeling in a much lighter sense. But for myself, while I agree gameplay isn’t king, I think a compelling narrative is personally the most important component for myself, because otherwise I don’t really see myself having reason to return to the game a lot. That’s why I never really played DOOM (2016) again. Gameplay is fun as ever, but the narrative aspects didn’t grab me.

[@RyxxyRx]

@@improbablyyourdad8458 lemme guess, you haven’t even played the game and you’re saying dumb shit like this?

[@moonrabbit2334]

​@@improbablyyourdad8458 I don't think you are being objective here also. A lot of people including me who's a souls noob btw, had so much fun regarding gameplay and combat. It's very short sighted and bias of you to say it's combat is just slashing and rolling. It's one of those games that you just can't understand from outside but once it clicks you get addicted to it. I have even started playing ds3 and ds1 after putting more than 400 hrs in the game. Clearly From did something that's worth appreciating and not randomly spread salt just because you don't get it. Previously I was against git gud comments but after getting the combat style finally it's actually true that git gud is a good advice

[@DAVISJOSHUA08]

@@improbablyyourdad8458 Poor game design AND it doesn't have a story(he didn't play more than five seconds)? Is this a trap? This feels like a trap 😅

[@joshalan5125]

My only pick that would be different than what most everyone else will likely mention is that I felt that TMNT Shredders Revenge deserved action game of the year.

[@dakotahrupp9128]

Can’t wait for the GOW review!

[@LeoLeeGaming]

A bit incorrect about Elden Ring performance in this vid Lukie. The most stable way to play Elden Ring is the PS4 version played via the PS5. It doesn't run locked 60 on the PS4 Pro.

[@zviyeri9117]

i played elden ring on specs that were barely above minimum and i have never experienced frame rate issues. no idea what that's about

[@ryanhopkins5239]

Also shipping with technical issues for any of these games is not they developers fault generally, its the push by the publisher to get it out

[@Thisisthegreatestatofalltime]

Regardless a broken game is a broken game

[@jayceallen6530]

Kinda shocked by bill clinton winning but i really expecting GOAT SIMULATOR 3 to take over the competition

[@henrymusic350]

Sifu was extremely underrated and I wish got more recognition and some awards

[@thevolta89]

The best experience I’ve had in elden ring performance-wise is the ps4 version of the game on ps5 console. I own the pc version too.

[@selloutsanders5774]

I'm sad plague tale didn't get anything. At least the soundtrack man.

[@hazelcrisp]

Same here.... Which is sad. I was hoping it would get either narrative, performance or score. But GOW took ALL of them.

[@ni55an86]

We'll scripted video. Lead me one way and then another, and just when I thought I knew... Ya flipped the script. I was left with a smile and a warm feeling in my tum tum from the confirmation bias. 10/10 video. It cured my cancer and I lost almost 5" from my waistline. Elden Ring is awesome. 👍

[@berikaitkozhayev7621]

Utterly amazing video is done utterly well:)

[@JayTCU]

Elden Ring helped me get into souls games. I just finished DS3 and went back to Bloodborne after giving up on it

[@darkoale3299]

Good man!

[@ninles1]

So luke...your god of war summary...they didn't "subvert your expectations"...they exceeded them....don't confuse the two..they are vastly different. If you expected x..then they gave you 15x...that's not a subversion..thats excess.

[@lucasdotcomm]

Dude. Why is the quarry even in this discussion

[@johanw9216]

I think my game of the year will have to go to A Plague Tale: Requiem, it was just amazing and the story is so good and just like you I was crying in the end. Haven't really gotten around to playing so many games that were relsead under 2022, but I liked the art style and story of Kena: Bridge of Spirits as well, even tho I would have liked to know Kena more. Great video and recap of the games of the year!

[@gregruns]

Luke, how do you like the Alpine Loop? I have the orange one and I think they are the best looking, but man, are they cumbersome to handle. I witched to the Trail Loop, not as good looking IMHO, but so much better to use with the watch.

[@Dratio]

Normally I would assume there would be attempts to duplicate Elden Ring's success, but I just don't know if western developers are even capable of copying it. I still remember those UX devs tweeting in flustered confusion unable to understand why players were okay with a game not holding them by the hand every single step of the way and sometimes even challenging them.

[@drschwandi3687]

Western developers have unlearned how to design a game without handholding the player to a big degree.

[@improbablyyourdad8458]

Elden Ring is ass and Fromsoft games aren’t even popular. They have a cult of nuthuggers who praise their trash. Most gamers don’t play/ don’t like these trash slash and roll games.

[@Dratio]

@@improbablyyourdad8458 Should I care what's popular? Do you only consume media based on popularity?

[@John-996]

Ubisoft in AC Valhalla do not hold your hand once you start a quest. The issue is there are markers for all the Quests on the map so you loose a sense of discovery. But once you begin the quest you have to find were to go yourself. The issue with this design is although finding your way is fun at first it really drags the game out and that is Why people say the game is 80 plus ours for just the main story. Also though not sure Why Elden Ring is getting This credit You should be giving Morrowwind the Credit for doing this Long Before Fromsoft games got popular.

[@araaraavery]

@@improbablyyourdad8458 brother if it was solely about popularity and market share, you would see mobile gacha games win goty every year...

[@HanShotFirst2131]

I cant understand the divisiveness around GOTY online. Like why not just like both lol

[@introduction1266]

because fools think that you can't like more than one game

[@hambonej]

i literally twisted my toes hoping you said god of war ragnarok and now my feet hurt but for me its god of war ragnarok

[@Voxdalian]

I'm more of a story person than a gameplay person, but I'm still picking Elden Ring, for the environmental storytelling, for the worldbuilding, ... In my opinion it's really not so close between GoW and ER, I don't see how GoW could win, the narrative is the only aspect it does better, and that's only because Elden Ring doesn't really have one clearly laid out. Actually the second best game to come out this year just came out a few days ago: Knights of Honor 2.

[@yabbadabbadoo2099]

its december 9th tho, little early for a end of year list

[@FoxyGuyHere]

I have never disagreed with sth more than Forbidden west. it's amazing game in every way and the prettiest game ever made objectively. (In realistic graphics sense)

[@ryanhopkins5239]

God of war also had some really strange glitches

[@shuigor6648]

Should've at least mentioned Vampire Survivors: the amount of clones of that game that have been made after it got popular is astounding.

[@sassythesasquatch6847]

Both big contenders did disappoint as a fan of both studios GOWR had a more refined feel than the last game and more content and enemies which was it's biggest issue last time but the story wasn't near as good, I loved playing Atreus at the beginning but it got really old real fast with Thor carrying his later sections. The Angrboda sequence really could have been trimmed down to an hour and got all the same story and character developments across without feeling like the worst part of the game by a mile (The boss fight was cool though). The realms already explored in the last game had less content in each which was a real shame except for Alfheim. Nifleheim was practically nothing, musphelheim had way worse and repetitive challenges, midgard was great but was much smaller with Tyrs temple being nothing but a prop, Jotenheim was just the boring story section with no return value, Asgard and Helheim was the same but with much better sequences. Leaving by far the best realm Vaneheim, Svarthleheim and Alfheim which were the only ones truly fleshed out. Despite improving combat and adding really cool stuff the biggest sin was making Kratos a backstage character in his own game who felt like a dog on a leash once again, the whole theme of the damn story was about following your own path which Atreus got thematically Kratos just did a one eighty from his last games development and just did whatever he was told. The Beserkers was also atrocious compared to the Valkyries. Overall Its an 8/0 because despite my gripes the game is still phenomenal the story and characters were still one of the best in the industry with great combat and exploration and puzzles

[@sassythesasquatch6847]

Elden Ring gave me the best awe to explore since Witcher 3 and Skyrim but we need to be brutally honest, when people say it’s dark souls with free roam I’d honestly agree, despite having the best bosses, lore, score and exploration of any souls game it was just the dark souls formula executed the best but with worse combat than Sekiro. Pvp is unplayable unless you find the few players that don’t abuse broken spells and casts. PvE is fun with friends but when you summon someone and they just 2 hit a boss it feels worse than dying to the boss again. No story so i wonder why in gods earth it was nominated best narrative. With the last criticism being the biggest one, if there’s someone out there who completed the game without looking anything up I wanna know because there’s a difference between figuring out what to do, and not knowing what to do unless you spend hours on end jumping around with your horse to find a specific place/item etc without even the help of lore pickups or scrolls or even a quest marker, I appreciate its lack of direction because it motivates exploration which is great when you find someone but at the expense of being subjected to progress walls unless you have internet to look it up.

[@danielbattle7620]

@@sassythesasquatch6847 I disagree with your opinions on Elden, while the challenge of boss fights is similar to DS3, DS3 was much more linear. You aren’t really taking into account how good Elden exploration is coupled with build diversity. You can get lost for hours in that game and find something rare or a new boss to defeat. You didn’t need to be guided because you always wanted to see what was over the next horizon. Also, the build diversity available to the player is akin to picking your own main character in a video game. Eldens RPG formula is truly something to be praised.

[@moonrabbit2334]

​@@sassythesasquatch6847 Two things I will say, for me combat being similar to dark souls was in no way a negative, it's even more polished. Also I don't think combat is superior or inferior to sekiro in the sense that souls game have this slower combat with more thought out dance of combat while sekiro is more fast paced and parry mechanics. Honestly I like Souls style of combat more. Reason being that I like to wield the biggest possible weapon in the game and find opening to one or two shot enemy. In Elden Ring case, it's jump heavy attack after dodging into a boss attack. Also I really liked the parry with buckler and later in the game using carian retaliation which can be used in medium shield. Medium shield comes handy when facing difficult bosses where I am clearly underleveled for the area. Secondly, regarding exploration I did find majority of stuffs by myself. I would search for nook and cranny for any secret. And later in game I noticed most hidden walls have this unique look idk how to describe you just feel like that's surely a hidden wall. I'll admit I took some help from my friends regarding secret areas they discovered but I missed and vice versa. But for the most part I was having so much my palms were sweating I was so into the game I got jumpscares multiple times😂. Truly one of the best game for the past few years and surely years to come *FOR ME* I have started playing again now that there's a PvP collossium update. I m having so much fun 😊

[@sassythesasquatch6847]

@@danielbattle7620 I think build diversity is getting confused with weapon diversity, when I pick my beginning class the only things that differentiate is a single piece of armour and different beginning stats that aren’t enough difference to call a whole different build, that’s determined whether you stick to that point attributions ratio or not when levelling. There’s mage, heavy, light and casts as the true base builds with the variety of weapons and magic being the true reason why there’s so much variety. Not to mention each weapon only has like 3 attacks each which leads to boredom quickly to try out something else, It’s good for variety but when you specify a build for weapons with the same animations it gets boring thankfully there’s respeccing. After one playthrough you could select roughly half the weapons in the game that are usable like in previous souls games, but what ruins it for me is how there’s so many builds that are just useless like heavy. Especially in pvp where there’s clear METAS with certain spells, casts and high dexterity weapons leaving all other builds in the dust. The variety overall is still top tier but I don’t know how that applies to enhancing exploration as that’s an entirely different aspect and doesn’t affect it at all. Items however is my favourite part of the games roster I think they’re the mist fun things to use in the game like turning yourself into s prop.

[@John-996]

@@sassythesasquatch6847 I got a sense of discovery in elden ring But it did not give me the feeling Skyrim, RDR2 and witcher 3 did. Only other games that have done that are Kingdom Come, Fallout3 and New vegas. Elden Did have some moments but it offten felt like most of the discovery were useless items or boss fights and it made exploring predictable most of the time.

[@bmack8131993]

Stray has the railroad tracks for the navigation so that people wouldn’t take video after video of the cat jumping to their unaliving over and over again. While the criticism is valid, I think having a cat that killed itself over and over again is bad lol.

[@Silverguise]

My top 5, in order, are God of War Ragnarök, Sifu, Elden Ring, Tunic, & TMNT. I admit TMNT isn't the kind of game to show up on many lists, but for nostalgia alone I couldn't get enough of it.

[@naiiin6949]

Didn't sifu release in 2021?

[@teapouter6109]

@@naiiin6949 no

[@danielbattle7620]

Sifu over elden? That’s wild

[@danielbattle7620]

@@therealkhobe-2721 it’s 6 hrs long bro

[@danielbattle7620]

@@therealkhobe-2721 sifu not even close to elden

[@DerekExMachina]

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was my personal game of the year, but my definition of game of the year is more revolving around "what game made me ~feel~ the most? And what game did I have the most fun playing through? By those questions, Xenoblade 3 really offered the best experience for me this year. But as you mention at the end, if you're judging a game's quality by how much of an impact that it will make throughout the industry at large, then Elden Ring makes the most sense. It's always interesting to see GOTY discourse because what makes a game worthy of GOTY means something different for most people.

[@RadioMan8745]

I think HFW is my game of the year it was a wonderful story a gorgeous fun world to explore and do things within some great side quests excellent voice acting. Ragnarok felt rushed at times some Character Arcs were to quick and some things did not have time to breathe narratively this also compounds with how lackluster some of the bosses were. Elden ring is a technical mess still not fixed on pc fps wise and stutter wise on mid range rigs and on ps5 and series x its still sub 60 despite their powerful hardware but it had great gameplay and a amazing world to explore. To me HFW is game of the year but elden ring is a close second.

[@darkoale3299]

Elden Ring is not sub 60 on PS5....

[@RadioMan8745]

@@darkoale3299 check out digital foundrys video it shows drops into the 50s and 40s on the native ps5 version.

[@John-996]

I felt Both HFW and GOWR felt rushed loved God of war over all though. HFW as was well made but felt forgetable. Elden Ring lacked What Made Bloodbourne and Sekrio great which was the boss fight design. I also found Elden Ring to be dated in Terms of Graphics.

[@_brvnwwrld_]

I would've slapped As Dusk Falls without hesitation 2 tier above every other game on that list, holy shit.

[@marcioffi27]

If you do decide to see his Horzion Forbidden West “critique” just remember he didn’t even play the game and he made up his entire review. He’s literally the only person to say it’s “lack luster” not a single person feels that way. It’s one of the best games I’ve ever played and the guy who’s telling you not to buy it didn’t even know the first zone is on the same map as the rest of the game… you have to start there and you finish the game there….. what does that tell you? If you played the game watch his review and you’ll notice it instantly

[@Leohlyon]

That’s actually a great point. He also HEAVILY criticized Elden Ring; but now it’s all of the sudden one of the best games he’s ever played? Something is not adding up here. I didn’t love Forbidden West, but I liked it more than Elden Ring, and I wouldn’t refer to it as lackluster.

[@marcioffi27]

@@Leohlyon he refers to it as lackluster because he didn’t play it… he’s literally the only person on the planet that called it lackluster.. nobody takes his game reviews seriously because it’s obvious what he does… Horizon isn’t RDR2 but it’s a 10/10 game that everyone loves except Luke… I would love to see him replay the game and than watch his review to see how much of a fool he is for destroying his credibility.

[@Leohlyon]

@@marcioffi27 I’ll go back and watch that video because I assumed he played it. That never occurred to me.

[@ryanhopkins5239]

I played elden ring on ps5 no problems

[@PervySage723]

Glad youre giving them both props. Some people are just crazy and trash one or the other

[@ThousandairesClub]

*if ELEX 2 had more to do once you beat the game, it would be a STRONG consideration for my GOTY.....but since it don't, its hands down WWE 2K22. i havnt cared about wrestling since 2005 but that game has everything you can think of.*

[@michaelwatkins4336]

When do we get the Ultimate Critique of God of War Ragnarok

[@joshuanelson6795]

My favorite games this year were definitely God of War: Ragnarok and A Plague Tale: Requiem. I still haven't played Elden Ring because I'm honestly not the biggest FromSoftware fan.

[@anthonyspeers2047]

Ever since cyberpunk I just wait for a sale on games.

[@ashleyedwards3082]

Surprising that Neon White and Citizen Sleeper didn’t get in for indies both are far better than Cult of Lamb and Stray but you might not have played them

[@rubainjason8875]

I found God of War Ragnarok mind-numbing

[@gaurd3]

No wonder Elden Ring was so intriguing. I just found out that george jj martin wrote the world's lore. Maskes perfect sense

[@Rocky_TRB]

I would like to nominate my reformed orthodox rabbi Bill clinton

[@Rocky_TRB]

and destiny 2

[@lermanct4486]

ER for me defiantly takes it; but not up and away. GoW was excellent in it's own right and I would not begrudge it if it had won. But what you said about which game is going to be the one to get cloned? I think it's gonna be GoW, I mean I can totally see it being EXACTLY what Assassin's creed becomes. Like at this point isn't it already trying to be the Witcher 3? It's the vibe I get from it.

[@brandoncobb4646]

I put 800 hours into my first playthrough of Elden Ring. It's kinda unfair to all the other games, but Luninatis or whatever, is rocking my world!

[@moonrabbit2334]

800hr? Jesus I have plating since February and I got like 400 hrs Max but I did quit for a while because I was busy

[@danielbattle7620]

800!!???? Make it make sense dude

[@brandoncobb4646]

@@moonrabbit2334 I did the Let Me Solo her thing. I was Arthur, Of Old

[@moonrabbit2334]

@@brandoncobb4646 Always appreciate a tarnished that's out there to help their fellow tarnished

[@brandoncobb4646]

@@moonrabbit2334 every player should honor them by putting.. 100 hours into helping with end game bosses.