According to the Golden Joystick Awards Dark Souls is the Ultimate Game of All Time

[Fencers]

Gonna have to agree to disagree I knew what metroidvania was before dark souls was even thought of. I could literally argue the same with soulslike. I hardly hear of these games when they come out.

That's fine.

I did a trend search among the two terms on a few different platforms. I stand by saying there are likely as many that have heard of Soulslike as haven't heard of Metroidvania and vice versa.

In sales, Soulslike games greatly outsell Metroidvania games and have a higher market presence than all but Metroid itself. Whether or not Johnny Elite is actively calling The Surge 2 a Soulslike, the genre is sold across the market to a greater degree than say Salt & Sanctuary.

If one is not looking for it (so to speak), a given genre might not seem as popular superficially due to our natural bias as to what comes up in news/platforms one might visit and so on.

again this is true of all genres. I recently seen people talking highly of Metroid Dread. Can't tell you the last time I seen people talking about and soullike game.

Yea, it's true of all genres. But it's important that one is more talked about than the other. That is the point. If there are 40-50 YTs about Soulslike games specifically then 20-30 about Metroidvania games (I'm just making these numbers up here), then it matters that Soulslike games are a hotter topic of interest. And that is of GREAT interest to marketers, developers, and publishers.

I think you already know this but I want to repeat, I'm not trying to claim no or small impact. I agree it had a big impact on gaming. Just not "ultimate game of all time" impact.

Of course.

[Wrecktangle]

Metroidvania's didn't exist as a frequently discussed topic before Dark Souls came out at least not in my experience. While the target games that made up the genre existed long before Dark Souls they weren't the widespread indie focus point they are today. Both SOTN and SM are 2 of my favorite games (beside the real GOAT Xenogears), but I have to say, I remember the first time I played Dark Souls (and more importantly Bloodborne), I remember feeling something I haven't felt in gaming since the SNES/PSEX era. I was engaged, couldn't put the game down, had to know more, and it spawned a desire to find as many other games in the genre that I could.

No other game in the last 20 years has done that to me and that's worth something. I've played COUNTLESS games and genres heavily over the years. FromSoft consistently delivers the best in class experience that I look forward to and have 0 reservations about day 1 purchases.

Is it the greatest game of all time? I'm not confident I could say that, is it the one of my generation? Yeah I could see that.

[bledgor]

Thinking about it for a day, honestly agree if and I mean a big IF, you are going to crown an ultimate game of all time, it can't be dark souls, game isn't close. The best ones I could think of were like Super Mario, Warcraft III, Metroid, and maybe like Doom, all games that really created/exploded their own genres, in some cases created new genres/sub-genres, and who helped gaming as a whole grow to new levels.

[Self Inflicted Wounds]

Gonna have to agree to disagree I knew what metroidvania was before dark souls was even thought of. I could literally argue the same with soulslike. I hardly hear of these games when they come out.

Its fine that you haven't heard of a Soulslike etc, but its a widespread term these days. If you really aren't in a sphere that is discovering new games or genres, then you probably wouldn't have discovered it, and thats fine and fair.

I first heard "Souls Like" getting popular around the time Hollow Knight came out maybe, I don't remember. I also hear the term very often in video game reviews, podcasts, VG critics, etc.

I know you agree that Dark Souls has influenced gaming, it was just odd to hear you imply that just because you had never heard soulslike until recently, that it isn't a big deal or something.

[Blackmist]

The purpose of any modern award is not to heap praise upon something deserving of it, but to generate enough controversy to direct clicks to its webpage where people can tell them why they're wrong.

And in any case, it's Soul Reaver.

[DarkAmbient]

Why are multiple posters saying Dark Souls spawned a genre? It was Demon's Souls, the game that came before it.

It's not possible to crown a game as The Best Ever, but Dark Souls is definitely one of the best games ever made. The world feels so real, as do the characters you meet in it, thanks to some excellent voice acting and the way in which you're left to piece together the story of the world by yourself. For me, part of the appeal of the entire series is the loneliness and melancholy of it. No other games impart those emotions quite like the Souls games.

[Tech614]

Why are multiple posters saying Dark Souls spawned a genre? It was Demon's Souls, the game that came before it.

It's not possible to crown a game as The Best Ever, but Dark Souls is definitely one of the best games ever made. The world feels so real, as do the characters you meet in it, thanks to some excellent voice acting and the way in which you're left to piece together the story of the world by yourself. For me, part of the appeal of the entire series is the loneliness and melancholy of it. No other games impart those emotions quite like the Souls games.

Demon's Souls was a commercial flop and cult classic. It did so poorly in Japan Sony wasn't even going to release it in the US but Atlus bought rights to release it here. Bandai Namco took a shot and gave From Software a small budget(as seen by the unfinished mess post anor londo is) to make Dark Souls and it led to the more wide spread popularity of Souls. It is Dark Souls that retroactively made Demon's Souls popular even though it came after...

[Self Inflicted Wounds]

Why are multiple posters saying Dark Souls spawned a genre? It was Demon's Souls, the game that came before it.

It's not possible to crown a game as The Best Ever, but Dark Souls is definitely one of the best games ever made. The world feels so real, as do the characters you meet in it, thanks to some excellent voice acting and the way in which you're left to piece together the story of the world by yourself. For me, part of the appeal of the entire series is the loneliness and melancholy of it. No other games impart those emotions quite like the Souls games.

If you want to be pedantic about it, it would have been Monster Hunter, lol.

But probably because the term refers to Souls as a series, but Dark Souls is what launched the series into its fame?

[Rucati]

Lots of games spawned subgenres.

If that was the requirement for being the ultimate game of all time then I'd say Wolfenstein is far more deserving of the title than Dark Souls. Sure, Dark Souls made a new subgenre, but Wolfenstein pioneered what became the biggest video game genre in the world.

Of course, that also isn't nearly enough to call a game the ultimate game of all time.

I don't really think you can have an ultimate game of "all time", maybe of each decade, certainly of each year, but of all time? You can't possibly compare a game from the 90s to anything made today. There's been way too many changes and innovations over the past 4 decades.

Dark Souls is a phenomenal game, probably top 10 of all time, but I really don't see how anyone could call it the ultimate game, I mean after all it wasn't exactly without flaws, and I really don't want any flaws in my ultimate game.

[DarkAmbient]

Demon's Souls wasn't a commercial flop at all, it sold well over a million copies, and without that success it's likely Dark Souls wouldn't have happened. It was a proof of concept that Dark Souls built upon. The success of Dark Souls was because 1) it was the sequel Demon's Souls fans and Xbox owners were waiting for and 2) it was fucking amazing.

[Tech614]

Demon's Souls wasn't a commercial flop at all, it sold well over a million copies.

It "sold" over 1 million copies after being fire sold for $20, given away for free on PS+ and Sony didn't even care to publish the game in the west because of how poorly it did in Japan. If you think Demon's Souls wasn't a commercial flop you have no idea what you're talking about, literally the fucking owner of the game wasn't even going to release it in the west until Atlus USA bought the rights to localize it and then Bandai Namco had to buy the rights to publish and release it in EU lol...

Demon's Souls remake sold more in 3 months then the original did in over a decade. My man you are actually clueless if you don't realize Bandai Namco was taking a chance on From Software turning a cult classic into something bigger with Dark Souls. It was a risky project with how poorly Demon's Souls did commercially. Which again, is why Dark Souls is unfinished post Anor Londo a shit show in the last part of the game- budget had to be stopped at some point because it was a risk.

[DarkAmbient]

I am aware of all the facts and don't need you explaining them to me or repeating the same thing you've already said. My post stands correct.

[Orange Joe]

I know you agree that Dark Souls has influenced gaming, it was just odd to hear you imply that just because you had never heard soulslike until recently, that it isn't a big deal or something.

That wasn't really my intention or argument. I consider both genres to be "niche" genres. Not that it wasn't a big deal or anything more just that mertoidvanias as a genre has been around longer as dark souls was even a game.

I would personally argue metroid/super metroid had just as large if not larger impact on gaming as dark souls. It just seems smaller cause at the time gaming as a whole was smaller.

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Why are multiple posters saying Dark Souls spawned a genre? It was Demon's Souls, the game that came before it.

It's not possible to crown a game as The Best Ever, but Dark Souls is definitely one of the best games ever made. The world feels so real, as do the characters you meet in it, thanks to some excellent voice acting and the way in which you're left to piece together the story of the world by yourself. For me, part of the appeal of the entire series is the loneliness and melancholy of it. No other games impart those emotions quite like the Souls games.

If you are talking about me it's more my ignorance on that genre as a whole. If you asked me to point out which game was which I wouldn't be able to.

[Ashleyxoxo]

Haven't played, I don't like supposedly "challenging" games... feels like work.

[Self Inflicted Wounds]

That wasn't really my intention or argument. I consider both genres to be "niche" genres. Not that it wasn't a big deal or anything more just that mertoidvanias as a genre has been around longer as dark souls was even a game.

I would personally argue metroid/super metroid had just as large if not larger impact on gaming as dark souls. It just seems smaller cause at the time gaming as a whole was smaller.

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If you are talking about me it's more my ignorance on that genre as a whole. If you asked me to point out which game was which I wouldn't be able to.

You're probably right, but what I meant was that as of right now, Souls has the advantage of being newer and more relevant by extension. Outside of Dread and Smash Bros, I don't think Metroid or Castlevania is quiet as popular with the younger crowds. Unless they really look into it, they probably don't know the roots or have played Super Metroid, for instance.

Thats probably why UGOAT is more likely to go to Dark Souls than Metroid, the name is shinier and newer.

[Merie]

Oh it spawned a sub-genre. Ain't that cute. Let me tell you about a little game called Super Mario Bros. that pulled gaming back from the shadowy abyss.

[Jazzhands]

Dark Souls is the worst Souls game. I'll never understand the fascination people have with that game.

[Exkrementor]

I won't argue dark souls didn't impact gaming. I just wouldn't put it as the ultimate game of all time. I can think of a few games before dark souls

Super Mario 64
Super Metroid
Halo
World of Warcraft

Dark Souls basically created a new genre. WoW just stole everything from other games like every Blizzard game. Halo is a good fps but still just an fps. Super Metroid I can agree with.

Super Mario 64 looks to me like the fever dream of a pedophile. But I never had an N64.

[Hotmail]

The first Dark Souls certainly did a lot of things right, like world building and combat. The main problem with it was the archaic, quarter-gobbling game design of punishing the player until he finds the correct path. You needed guides or 3rd party sources to have a smooth experience and a complete picture of the lore, and because of that it can't be GOAT except for a very small niche of players.

GOAT would be some sort of RPG everybody can connect with... probably a game by Bioware or Bethesda.

[hulkgor]

Silly award title from the get go, i'd say.

That said, haven't played a Dark Souls before, have no intention of ever playing. Just not my cup of tea.

Congrats to it for the award though!