It’s been a long wait, but we finally know what The Game Awards’ Game of the Year (GOTY) nominees for 2024 are. They are:
This is where things get interesting because Shadow of The Erdtree isn’t a standalone game. It requires 2022’s GOTY, FromSoftware’s Elden Ring, to play. That’s right; it’s an expansion! A GOD FORSAKEN DLC!
*Iain spits into his trusty spittoon in the corner of his room that he definitely washes out more than once a year*
How dare they! How could they let this happen? Why didn’t anybody stop them?! WHY AM I EVEN MAD?! Wait… why am I mad? It doesn’t really affect me, and there’s nothing to stop the jury from voting for it, so there shouldn’t be any problem. Nevertheless, there is something deep inside that makes me slightly uncomfortable. Like I just ate half a bag of Sour Patch Kids in one go; I’m giddy and my stomach is twitching.
So let’s look at both sides and see why Elden Ring: Shadow of The Erdtree should, or shouldn’t be included in the GOTY nominees to soothe my bowels.
Ew. I hate myself right now.
As far as I can see, there are two main complaints with a DLC being up for Game of the Year:
An expansion or a DLC is not something that can be played outright without owning (or licensing in these newfangled times of ours) another game. In this case, you cannot enter the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC until you have met certain conditions in the base game of Elden Ring. This is progression-based, requiring you to kill specific bosses and, if you want your sanity to remain more or less intact, have a leveled-up character. Without meeting the requirements, you’ve bought a digital ornament.
Exaggerating a point, imagine a world where Powerwash Simulator’s Shrek DLC was nominated for GOTY. You can’t access Powerwash Simulator’s Shrek DLC without owning Powerwash Simulator. Without owning the OG Powerwash Simulator, it’s not playable. It’d be surprising if you didn’t own it because it’s a banger! But you see my point; it’s kind of absurd.
Elden Ring had its GOTY moment in 2022. It was showcased up the wazzoo and lauded as one of the games of the generation. Why should it have that AGAIN for basically the same game? Instead, we should celebrate the new games that have not yet had their chance to shine, the games that have been BURIED by the fact that a DLC is nominated for GOTY.
There are so many fantastic games people aren’t aware of that could have been showcased if those selfish critics and media outlets had some self-respect and decorum. For Shaaaaame. FOR SHAAAAAME!
This argument may not hold any water if, for example, the original game was released as a buggy, broken mess like Cyberpunk 2077. Cyberpunk’s DLC Expansion, Phantom Liberty, meaningfully changed some of its critical systems and provided hefty new story content starring Idris Elba. I hear you swooning right now. But, back on point, Phantom Liberty was a chance to gain the recognition that CDPR deserved from the overhaul.
Well, it’s not a sandwich.
OK, that’s a bit flippant, but what I’m saying is: if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it’s a f*cking duck. Sure, you may have to own the original game to access it, but you’re still gonna broadly categorize playing it as “playing video games.” There’s a story, gameplay mechanics, a visual style, a score, and, I dunno, a menu button or some crap. It’s basically a game except your jumping-in point is part way through another game.
How does this compare to some other games, though? Let’s say you buy Mass Effect 2 after playing Mass Effect. There’s a way to import your Commander Shepherd from Mass Effect so that all choices carry over from the previous game. Mass Effect 2 is not a DLC, but you’re jumping in halfway through the narrative (or a third, I guess) with progress from another game. So the only difference is, sticking with this example, a DLC would have Mass Effect compulsory to play before 2.
Would any sane person have it any other way?
Now, let’s take the new expandalone phenomena. Uncharted: Lost Legacy and Spider-Man: Miles Morales are two such examples. Early on in development, Spider-Man: Miles Morales was described as an “expansion and enhancement to [Marvel’s Spider-Man]” by then Sony Vice President Simon Rutter. It later became a standalone game that was nominated for multiple Game Awards, yet nobody batted an eyelid.
I guess it’s because you can play an expandalone without being forced to play the original game, even if much of the content is built directly from it.
FromSoftware has another critical hit, scored separately from the base game. Metacritic has Shadow of the Erdtree at a 94, with critics praising its new vistas, challenging boss fights (except the evil last one before it was nerfed), and its vast array of new weapons and trinkets to help people in the Lands Between. It’s no secret I ain’t never gonna play Elden Ring, but even I have watched people playing this content and said “DAMN that looks great.”
Shadow of the Erdtree is also not a small expansion. How Long to Beat says it will take a normal person approximately 25 ½ hours to complete. A noob like me would be more like double that. I’m not saying everything’s about length (I sure hope not), but Astro Bot, perhaps the favorite for this year’s GOTY comes in at a little over 10 hours to finish. I freaking love Astro Bot, but there’s more content in this DLC than that perfect little platformer.
So, it’s good and lengthy.
Here’s the crux of it: The Game Awards allows it. You may think it’s unfair, and you may be justified in that thinking, but it’s permitted. Otherwise, outlets would not have been able to vote for it in the first place. Different awards shows will have varying rules, but Geoff Keighley’s Game Awards are thus: expansion packs, new game seasons, DLCs, remakes and remasters are eligible for consideration.
And that has not changed since at least 2016.
In 2016, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine expansion won the Game Award for Best RPG. It beat FromSoftware’s Dark Souls 3! So, yeah, if you think it’s a travesty now that Shadow of the Erdtree is nominated for Game Awards, just think how it would feel to exclude them AFTER BEING BEATEN BY A DLC EIGHT FREAKING YEARS AGO.
There probably should be a separate award for DLC and Expansions, but that’s not really the point. I think it’s been lost in this conversation that Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is a blooming good game. It’s a game bursting with content, great graphics and beat-your-head-against-a-wall challenging bosses. There’s more quality crammed into this game than most releases this year.
Hell, the only reason this hasn’t really come up before is that no other DLC or expansion has hit the same bar as this one and deserved a GOTY nomination!
It certainly helps that they had a GOTY to expand upon, but you can level that same argument against any sequel to a beloved game. The only thing we’re really arguing about is the definition of a game versus a DLC, and with expandalones existing, that water has been muddy for years. You can make your own judgment.
But what does it matter what we think anyway? Them’s the rules. We need to deal with them.
