Pardon the provocative title - thought it’d catch some attention :D
As part of the 2021 Golden Joystick Awards, there was contest on which game is the Ultimate Game of All Time. This is the lost of contenders:
The game that came out of ahead before any of these was Dark Souls. In response to the award, Miyazaki talked about how the team at FromSoftware has grown since Dark Souls’ creation. He said:
“At that time, the staff who joined From Software as a newcomer and started [their] career as game creators from Dark Souls are now growing and becoming the core of the latest work, Elden Ring. In that sense as well, this time, I was deeply moved by the award.”
Dark Souls is a game that has been talked about a lot since its debut, will likely be talked about in ten years and in ten years after that - it’s a timeless game. It’s the origin of the entire genre and laid the groundwork for the core pillars of these game. It’s been praised for its level design, art direction, difficulty, environmental storytelling etc.
I do respect the legacy of the game and the long-lasting impact it had on the genre and on gaming as a whole, but for me personally, there are other contemporaries that I enjoy more: be it for more polished combat, visuals, or story.
What do you think? Is Dark Souls deserving of being called the Ultimate Game of All Time compared to the other contenders? I feel like basically any of the nominees could have won the award and I would not have been surprised. Does the game still hold up to you even compared to the swathes of other games to choose from? Why do you keep coming back to Dark Souls - if you even do?
Ninja Edit: had a slightly differently structured post planned about this, but I just came back from the gym and barely got this post together, and remember only half of what I initially wanted to discuss - sorry :D ✨💜
2021 was a year of the extreme FromSoft hype. Sekiro recently won GOTY, the whole community was excited for the upcoming Elden Ring. So it’s understandable that a soulslike won the trophy, even though most of the games from the list deserve it. If they repeat this nomination in 5-10-15 years, it might be a different game from exact this list—depending on what genre will be trending
Right, so you’d say DS’s winning is less about the quality of the game but more so about the context in which the contest was held?
I think more about the idea and influence. It was the first souls game to become a mainstream in some sort, and an all-time classic. I personally consider DS3 a better game, but it took the old formula and perfected it (mostly). For the same reason, i’d pick GTA Vice City over GTA V, but I’m not a big fan of the franchise tbh
The souls games appeal to a specific audience - people who treat games as a challenge to overcome. They require patience, dedication and long stretches of repetition.
I play games for fun. I play them to experience escape fantasy, to tour new worlds, to do things I can’t do in real life.
While I understand how souls may appeal to many, to me they are a waste of time. I get enough accomplishment and satisfaction from my work and personal life and don’t need to prove anything to a piece of software.
So yea - ultimate game of all time? Certainly not for me.
I like Dark Souls, but it’s not even my favourite Dark Souls game. Personally I think Super Mario 64 is the best game of all time, and it’s not my favourite either.
Dark souls is just a semi decent metroidvania that was released at the right time. I’ll die on that hill.
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