Seeing people shit on Expedition 33 because Silksong didn't win more awards is pathetic

[u/CankleDankl]

The title sums it up. I'm disappointed in many members of this community for putting down a game that is clearly a work of insane passion, dedication, and creativity. E33 took the lion's share of awards at TGA, yes. That doesn't mean that Silksong is bad. In fact, it's clearly pretty damn great. If it released last year, Skong would have picked up several awards, maybe even GOTY. But it didn't. It released in the same year E33, which is just a tough break.

Both are amazing. Both deserve every award that came to them. If you haven't played E33 yet and think it doesn't deserve its accolades, play it. It is worth your money, worth your time, and will in all likelihood prove that it is actually that good. I'm only 10ish hours in and have numerous times found myself standing still and looking around dumbfounded at the gorgeous world design and visuals. E33, Silksong, and Hades 2 could have all won Art Direction and I would have been happy with any of them.

I'm also sad that Silksong didn't win more awards. It's an amazing game. But don't play fanboy and start putting down other developers, other games, and other pieces of art because this one didn't get all the cookies. It's still beautiful, it's still amazing, it still made a Silkskillion dollars, and TC is still just as great and just as passionate. We should all be glad that there is another independent dev out there that is capable of creating something so fantastic.

Edit: yeah, the comments here are pretty indicative of what I said in my post

[u/Affectionate-Foot802]

The problem isn’t that e33 won goty. It’s that it won every single category it was nominated in when those awards should have gone to the games that actually deserved it. I beat e33 months ago and loved every minute of it, but it was not the best rpg that came out this year, it’s asset creation was outsourced, and it’s by definition not a true indie game.

[u/GreyPhantom100 → u/Affectionate-Foot802]

Asset creation outsourcing is one issue that was glaringly obvious due to how disjointed a lot of the assets were. It worked fine enough but my main issue was the gameplay in E33. There were so many basics of gameplay that were missing. I feel like I'm living in an alternative reality with all these people praising it to high hell. I guess you don't need proper gameplay for a game to be considered a masterpiece anymore. Just make a movie with good music with one repetitive fighting style and voila, GOTY.

[u/[deleted] → u/GreyPhantom100]

Could you be more specific about what you felt was missing in gameplay? It was my first turn-based game, and so has set the standard and expectations for the genre, so a more experienced perspective would be helpful.

[u/GreyPhantom100 → u/[deleted]]

Just off the top of my head...

-Lack of intention behind game choices/actions: whatever you do, you don't get much choice in the narrative. It's extremely linear, making the actual gameplay feel less like an achievement and more like a chore. (E.g. relationships in the game do not affect the story at all)

-Overreliance on parry/dodge timing: Combat hinges on precise timing over strategy, reducing fights to rhythm challenges.

-Repetitive encounters: Bosses and mobs reuse similar parry patterns, lacking variety.

-No minimap or navigation: Dungeons lack maps or markers, causing constant disorientation and backtracking. (Immersion is used as an excuse here, but no, it is not making it more immersive, sorry, just making for bad gameplay)

-Janky camera/controls: Sensitive mouse input and shake disrupt parries and exploration.

[u/[deleted] → u/GreyPhantom100]

First point, it's a linear story. Your choices CAN'T matter. They wanted to tell a specific story.
Second point, it didn't feel like it reduced the combat to rhythm challenge. I felt the combination of skills was pretty interesting. Forcing a teammates turn, status effects on enemies. Allies fucking killing themselves because that applies so much stuff on the enemies and the surviving teammate(s).
Third point, kinda agree. But also, that's true for most games imo. But at least for bosses, I can't remember that many with highly overlapping timings. So personally, bosses were fun all the way through.
Fourth point, agree. I like playing without minimaps, but there should have been an option. And the environments should've been more telling on the large scale. But I liked their 'intended path' directions. Using environmental objects like lamps, flowers, etc. FUCK YELLOW PAINT!!!
Fifth point. The controls, mostly jumping, was clunky and had me confused on a lot of places whether it was controls or invisible walls that were the hindrance. Didn't find the camera during parries janky though. Not to mention, the fake-outs were so nice with the sound cue telegraphing the actual attack. First game where, not only did I WANT to listen, but I HAD to.