The latest report from a website that tracks gaming awards has revealed that the RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which is set to be released in 2026, has surpassed The Last of Us Part II in the number of Game of the Year awards and has thus taken the second place of all time. Elden Ring from the FromSoftware company still holds the first place with a remarkable sum of 435 awards. This new situation has given rise to many debates regarding the definition of a ‘generation-defining’ game and the way the acceptance of the gaming community can change with time.
Okay, just give me a minute to make sure I understand this. Let’s briefly go back to the past. Are you familiar with those sites that rank games on the basis of very detailed measures and track each and every single Game of the Year awards given by both the critics and the publications, irrespective of their size? One such site has just released an update and the resulting ranking is something very dramatic. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, an exquisite turn-based JRPG from Sandfall that was made available last year, has just managed to banish The Last of Us Part II from the number two spot. This is gigantic! TLOU2 has held that position ever since its very controversial sweep in 2020, which has been a lasting, often not so favorable reminder of…well, a lot of things. And now it is still there, but just one position lower. However, the king is still there – the Elden Ring enjoys a vast lead with 435 awards. That’s just crazily insane.
As you might expect, the online reactions have been nothing short of a riot. The tweet by Dexerto about this event has turned the replies section into a battlefield. Some players are celebrating Clair Obscur’s victory. One Redditor, Renix, has even gone so far to declare both titles “the two best games of this decade,” which is quite a strong assertion. Others simply can’t comprehend how The Last of Us Part II was ever rated so highly. “How the hell is that last of us 2 garbage even there,” ReroJoestar responds, which, yikes, some gamers still harbor so much animosity towards the game. Then there are the followers of Elden Ring, represented by MaDZaAc, who just makes a mark, “Will never take my goat Elden ring off the throne.” They may be right about that, at least, for a long time to come.
However, the most disputable thoughts come with the lengthier comments. For instance, one Redditor, CrytoSpo, launched a 3-minute rant against TLOU2’s win in 2020, calling it “the most absurd in gaming history.” They said that it was “rigged to the heavens” and that it just won because it was released at the peak of a cultural moment, thus defeating other games like Doom Eternal. This has been a viewpoint that has existed for quite some time, and now the news has just provided it a new platform. In contrast, another gamer, Juventino, targeted Clair Obscur directly, characterizing the award as “pure madness”. Their argument was that barring the background score and maybe even the visuals, it’s “just another JRPG” with a complex third act that’s hard to follow. Thus, it’s not quite surprising that the new second position holder is not met with universal acclaim; the gaming community has always been critical anyway.
This entire scenario raises a multitude of queries, doesn’t it? For example, what do you think this implies? Awards do not decide everything; however, they are an indication of the critics’ consensus at a particular point in time. User Hwang Seong made a pretty incisive remark: “2020 the year of TLOU2 had a lot more awesome games. 2026 the year of COE33 had not many great games competing.” That’s a rather accurate observation. What if Clair Obscur enjoyed the benefit of a not-so-competitive year? Or what if it is just that excellent? The debate is endless.
And besides that, there is the entire…habitat of the conversation. It is not only about the games. It is personal. People are saying TLOU2 is a “fag game” or a “boring dog game,” which is both disgusting and reductive. The debate around Clair Obscur has also had its share of controversies, do you remember? Earlier this year, there was that whole incident where the developers were using AI tools in the early stages of the game development process, which sparked a lot of discussions. Some commenters are still mentioning that, debating whether or not the game should be disqualified because of the experimenting with AI tools years ago. It’s a big mess. But it shows how much a game can carry in terms of baggage beyond just its gameplay.
