5 reasons why God of War Ragnarok missed out on Game of the Year 2022

sportskeeda.com:

God of War Ragnarok was easily the most eligible contender for Game of the Year besides Elden Ring. While the latter secured the award at The Game Awards 2022, it was an agonizingly close call. Both God of War and Elden Ring present distinct experiences in terms of narrative and gameplay.

God of War (2018), the predecessor to Ragnarok, clinched the coveted accolade at The Game Awards 2018, despite the odds being tipped towards Rockstar Games' Red Dead Redemption 2.

However, Elden Ring, FromSoftware's first foray into the open-word action-RPG genre, managed to slip God of War for the title.

Elden Ring's win can partially be attributed to its availability on all major console platforms and PC, whereas God of War Ragnarok was confined to the PlayStation ecosystem. However, there are a few more reasons why the latter missed out on the prestigious title of Game of the Year 2022.

Here are five potential reasons why God of War Ragnarok might've lost the crown to FromSoftware's Elden Ring.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the author's opinions.

God of War Ragnarok, much like its predecessor, is not an open-world title. However, it follows a non-linear progression system which is very similar to that of open-world action-adventure games. It allows players to explore different zones (realms) and partake in many side quests.

While the game does deliver some memorable side quests via organic exploration, it is nowhere near as open as Elden Ring's exploration segments. The environment or levels are laid out linearly, which doesn't allow for experimentation. A linear level design's biggest issue in an open-ended game like God of War is restricting exploration.

Players can only go through areas in a certain way, laid out by the