Which GOTY is actually better?

The Game Awards is an interesting event for many reasons, not the least of which is the well-deserved praise for some of the medium's best releases. We notice this festive atmosphere most during the years when one game sweeps the awards and becomes a clear winner in several categories, not just the much-coveted Game of the Year award. There are few games in recent memory that fit that description better than Elden Ring and Baldur's Gate 3Game of the Year 2022 and 2023 winners.

These games are remarkably different, but have several key similarities that may help explain their popularity. Yes, they're both high-fantasy RPGs with mature elements and a single-player campaign focus, but they're also complete, uncompromising, and ambitious projects that serve as a welcome relief from the often laborious, must-have games pushed out by other AAA studios every year. in other words Elden Ring and Baldur's Gate 3 have integrity and vision. You may not like these games; you will be addicted whether you like it or not. And of course, their complete lack of microtransactions and other diabolical industry trends certainly helped them. Having said all that, it's interesting to review these seminal releases now that several years have passed, taking into account their cultural impact, innovation, critical reception, and raw “fun factor” to determine which ones are worth gamers' time.

Clash of the Titans: Baldur's Gate 3 vs. Elden Ring

Because these games are so different (and because I value my safety), I'll analyze them across specific vectors and categories, ruling one title as the winner in each area rather than overall. For example, it would not be fair to say something like “Elden Ring has a better fight than Baldur's Gate 3,” because each game features radically, fundamentally different combat mechanics. When you zoom out a bit, it's much easier to compare.

Baldur's Gate 3 beats Elden Ring in innovation and creativity

If you've been playing RPGs for more than a few years, I probably don't need to tell you how groundbreaking and ambitious it is Baldur's Gate 3 is. In a nutshell, BG3 is a choice-based RPG that follows in the footsteps of games like Fallout: New Vegas, Pillars of Eternity, Dragon Ageand Mass Effect. But I like these predecessors, especially the more cinematic ones Mass Effectare often more concerned with the illusion of choice than with real, meaningful agency. For example, you have dialogue options Mass Effectbut most conversations end up the same no matter which options are selected. This approach isn't without value—for one, it can heighten immersion—but it's also a constant reminder that you're playing a video game. The illusion is poorly maintained.

When the old choice-based RPGs actually present meaningful choices, like when Mass Effect 1 forces players to choose between saving Ashley and Kaiden, it can still feel like an on-rails decision. It's like a fork in the road: technically you have a choice between going left and right, but it's always been about those two options. Rarely do such games involve dynamic or combo decisions, where one decision leads organically to the next, and where repeated play feels genuinely unpredictable and fresh. But Baldur's Gate 3 includes such choices while managing to be the closest to tabletop role-playing the gaming medium has ever seen.

The breadth and freedom of choice it offers Baldur's Gate 3 It never feels like a gimmick or a cheap gimmick, but simply another way for players to express themselves in the game world. Choices and consequences don't usually boil down to a simple back-and-forth conversation with slightly different dialogue depending on the player's decisions: entire quest lines can be skipped, key characters including party members can die and be lost forever, you can either befriend or betray various NPCs only to get your mere desserts hours later, and so on. Crucially, the decision-making process is a reward in itself, rather than just a series of binary choices leading to a “real” story or game rewards.

Elden Ring is not as innovative as Baldur's Gate 3, but it is the pinnacle of its genre

One of the reasons why it is so interesting to compare Elden Ring on Baldur's Gate 3 while certainly inventive and ambitious in many ways, Elden Ring far less pushing the boundaries than BG3. Before starting, Elden Ring was often called an “open world Dark souls”, and although this title has often been used derisively, it also fits the final project. Elden Ring is essentially the culmination of FromSoftware's modern body of work up to this point, which is exactly what makes it such a masterpiece.

In the broader context of post-2010 action RPGs Elden Ring it represents something of a “final form,” a mix of design pillars that FromSoftware popularized back then Dark souls and Soul of Demonswhich later spread throughout the industry. Elden Ring is an open-world action RPG of its generation that refines all of its FromSoftware-isms to a brilliant shine: combat is tough yet flexible and expressive, exploration is viscerally driven and engaging, and its art design, lore, and atmosphere are best-in-class. It doesn't have to be as groundbreaking as Baldur's Gate 3but it represents the pinnacle of a very specific, influential formula for video games.

It is also worth noting Elden Ringcultural impact. While Baldur's Gate 3 is sure to be very popular Elden RingThe game's success with mainstream audiences is almost unprecedented: it's one of the few times that the most talked about game of the year in several different demographics was something other than Call of Duty, FIFAor the like. It brought high art to the gaming masses, which is no small feat. While Baldur's Gate 3 will be a better game in the eyes of players who like choice-based RPGs with a focus on clear narrative and characters, Elden Ring it will be better for those looking for action, a deep lore to speculate on, and a challenging but rewarding gameplay loop. In the end, both games are masterpieces, with each being better at specific things, as opposed to one of them clearly being the “best” game.

Released

February 25, 2022

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence