God of War Ragnarok reviews in!

[Runa216]

gtotheunit91 said:

To me, gaming nominations for a pristine ceremony, such as TGA since it touts itself to be the video game version of the Oscars, is take into account everything a game has to offer, including the game as an artform. Best Picture nominees are supposed to encapsulate film as a form of art. Very rarely does a high budget movie ever have a Best Picture nomination. It happens more often now than it used to, but still rare. GoW: Ragnarok would be to me what The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was at the Oscars. A high budget film that took everything that made movies fun to watch, yet still be a piece of art. And it swept all 11 Oscar nominations it had that year.

If just those kinds of games get nominated though, why bother having other genre of games if those aren't just as viable to be considered for GOTY? Inside was just as simplistic in design and gameplay as Pentiment, yet it received a GOTY nomination in 2016 as it was a very powerful and moving game, but lost to Overwatch, a multiplayer only hero shooter. If the entire presentation of the game is a work of art, it should be considered for GOTY. I don't like to discredit a game if it doesn't match a very specific type of standard.

Probably the best 'take' overall in the entire thread. 

As a film student, you nailed the core concept of what these awards ceremonies are supposed to do. It isn't just about sheer numbers, but the deeper implications, the impact, and the art form. that's why something like Celeste got nominated its year and why Stray got nominated this year despite other stuff getting reviewed better. Celeste and Stray had something important to say AND were very well made games. They'll never make the money of a Halo Infinite or something like that which is a live service, but they actually had meaning. Not a jab against halo, but there's a reason stuff like Halo, Forza, Gran Turismo, etc don't get nominations. they're just games. nothing wrong with that, but they're not really 'art' in the same way something like God of War or even A Plague Tale is. 

Sometimes you just wanna smash things. sometimes you wanna feel things. Awards ceremonies tend to find ways to embrace both. which is why I think Elden Ring and God of War are the only real options for winning this year. Both balance gameplay and emotion or thoughtfulness better than any normal mainstream game. god of War has one of the most mature stories in gaming while also remembering it's a GAME, so it's FUN while also being meaningful. It has a relatively unique cinematography and art direction about it. It's got stunning performances and...you get the point. 

Something like Call of Duty won't ever be nominated because it's 'just a game'. a fun game, sure. a game that makes a lot of people happy and will make a few billion dollars over the next year, but nobody's sitting here and pretending it's ART. IT's a product. It has artistic value but it's a product first and foremost. A Plague Tale Requiem, Elden Ring, God of War Ragnarok, Horizon Forbidden West, Stray, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 are all pieces of art first. They all have stories that make you think or feel while also doing something to further the industry. 

Art is subjective, sure, but that doesn't mean consensus doesn't matter. That's why Sony tends to do so well with narrative-driven single-player games. It's also why I think that reasoning of 'all their games are the same because of this' argument is so fundamentally flawed and anyone who makes it should feel bad about themselves. The Last of Us, Stray, God of War, spider-Man, Horizon, and SO many others actually make you feel things and they're all vastly different to one another in terms of gameplay, tone, genre, storytelling, perspective, and their goals. God of War is impactful because it has something to say and has artistic value. There's a reason so many people are talking about it.