How I Fell Off My Goty

I fell off my game of the year…and it isn’t why you would think.

I’ve been playing Elden Ring since day 1, and while I have a history of bouncing off other FromSoftware games fairly quickly, something about Elden Ring was different for me.

No other release this year has gotten it’s hooks into me like this one. New game releases. Play it. Think about Elden Ring. Play Elden Ring instead. Rinse & repeat since February. Up until last week I considered Elden Ring to be my 2022 Game of the Year, hands down.

Nothing was going to top my experience with the game. Not even God of War: Ragnarok (the sequel to my 2018 GOTY) The brutal difficulty, dying repeatedly after being ambushed by giant bears, rot lake- nothing was slowing down my love for the game.

“No other release this year has gotten it’s hooks into me like this one.”

So what changed? Why haven’t I played it in weeks?

No game breaking patches were released, no updates to fundamental gameplay, no new releases have come to take it’s place in my heart. The game itself is the same as it has been throughout my 200+ hours with it.

I did find myself under an unbelievable time crunch at work, which was followed by a much needed vacation. When I did finally have some time and the opportunity to play it again I was excited. At that point Elden Ring and I had been apart for nearly three whole weeks!

“Controls I spent 200 hours with felt unfamiliar…”

I had left off in the Haligtree. As I came across my first enemy, katana at the ready, I charged in (too quickly?) and had to swig my flask of crimson tears to recover. To my shock, I got demolished by the creature I thought I was supposed to be cutting down via blood build-up damage. Just a small slip up…surely a one-time mistake…I picked up my lost runes & tried again. I redeemed myself, but not as easy as before my hiatus.

My struggles continued the rest of that night with the game. Controls I spent 200 hours with felt unfamiliar, combat frustrating, exploration a real challenge. I was being ambushed by high-level enemies no matter which path I took. Gone was the gentle push for me to get better, to learn from my mistakes, and get on to a new section of the game. I haven’t played it since.

As I said, the game hadn’t changed, no major patch, my gear & equipment that had gotten me to that point was all the same. So how did I fall out of love after a short three week break?

Maybe I’m just at the point in the game where it is meant to kick up the difficulty by a few degrees? Maybe 200 hours isn’t enough time to enforce, what I’ve always considered to be a clunky control system, over more streamlined schemes? And maybe the game really does need some accessibility options, despite the outcry that it would change the developers’ vision.

Whatever it is, the shine has worn off & I’m moving on. Looking for that next game that is going to overtake my life.

“…how did I fall out of love after a short three week break?”

Now that my desire to carry-on has faded I can no longer call Elden Ring my 2022 game of the year. It’s still an amazing game, and when the next FromSoftware game releases I will not hesitate to jump in, but I will be looking more carefully at how it onboards its players. I’ll also look at my work/vacation calendar to see any potential gaps in playing.

I don’t really know what will end up taking the top spot. Nothing I’ve played since has grabbed me, but if I had to give Vegas odds, A Plague Tale: Requiem & God of War Ragnarök are games to watch (also, I still need to play Stray). That being said, it is still a long way to December. Who knows what will unexpectedly grab me like Elden Ring did.

What about you dear reader!? Have YOU ever dropped off a game you loved? Why? Let me know in the comments.