Horizon: Forbidden West is an open-world action RPG set in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by robots. Aloy, the game’s protagonist and playable character, has become one of gaming’s most beloved heroes since her release earlier this year.
Horizon Zero Dawn is a game that has been praised by critics and fans alike. The game is set in an open world with a compelling story, great graphics, and fun gameplay. Aloy is the protagonist of Horizon Zero Dawn. She’s a hunter who must fight to protect her tribe from machines that have killed off most of the human population.
Is Elden Ring the face of mediocrity in the mainstream? (Image courtesy of Metro.co.uk)
A reader expresses displeasure with Elden Ring’s present success, claiming that mainstream video games and music have grown too safe and familiar.
I expect a lot of backlash and vitriol for this, but I’m going to say it anyway: Elden Ring is the Ed Sheeran of video games. That’s right, you read it accurately. Elden Ring, like the current Ed Sheeran song, has a lot of fame and acclaim, but none of them do anything that I haven’t seen or heard before.
I suppose this is why the independent scenes are so appealing: they provide the nourishment that video games and music urgently want. Regardless of my reservations, I want to emphasize that I accept the fact that many people like both Elden Ring and Ed Sheeran. After all, these are my pet peeves, and it’s my fault that I don’t get along with either of them as well as many of you do; yet, I want to express my thoughts in this rant for you to sift through and respond to as you see fit.
First and first, I understand that singling out Ed Sheeran is unjust; he is simply a microcosm of the mainstream music industry’s appalling lack of vision and vigor, but this problem has been for a long time. I think the last time I felt popular music was excellent was in the early 2000s, which explains my age.
Elden Ring, on the other hand, is a FromSoftware game with an open environment and a lot of Dark Souls elements. In these games, there are two constants: diligence and death. Despite Elden Ring’s vast open world and some of the traits that structure puts to the forefront, the formula born from the Souls-like refuses to alter.
This whole comparison, in my opinion, belongs inside the lunatic fandoms. Everything I’ve heard about Elden Ring is that it’s the indisputable Game of the Year — damned if anything else comes out in 2022. This irritates me since it’s just March and Elden Ring has a massive amount of buzz; people will proclaim it to be the finest game released since Zelda: Breath Of The Wild.
In my perspective, if one game leaps head and shoulders above the others in a given year, that year in video games may not have been as fantastic as hailed, but let’s face it, 2017 was an incredible year for video games.
This attitude of prioritizing one game above the others implies that we are unconcerned with the broader possibilities that video games might provide. As popular video game consumers, the boundaries we’re funneled into push us to want more of what we currently adore, so publishers exploit that, and some supply us with worse experiences because they know we’ll pay extra.
Another negative aspect of Elden Ring is that we will very certainly see more copycats and will be overrun with them since there is where the money is. If it weren’t for the desire to generate money, the industry would be bursting at the seams with massive, varied, and forward-thinking experiences, but that’s basically a pipe dream anymore. Those PlayStation 2/Xbox/GameCube days are not returning, y’all.
I’ll take a risk and argue that gamers and people in general don’t desire meaningful change, as seen by our consumerist behaviors. Maybe the media is to blame, but what isn’t a mistake is that I have a personal aversion to strong and overly favorable emotions, not a distaste for these games.
Furthermore, it gives the impression that people in general aren’t receptive to a larger range of entertainment and are guided by what is most assaulting their senses. If you’re a reader who is only interested in mainstream material, you’re losing out on a great deal. I kindly advise you to seek out new experiences that will enhance your life.
An anonymous reader writes:
The reader’s feature does not necessarily reflect GameCentral or Metro’s opinions.
You may submit your own 500-600-word reader feature at any time, and it will be published in the next available weekend slot if it is used. As usual, send us an email at [email protected], and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.
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