It’s Japan versus China for 2024’s game of the year

How do I rank the year in gaming when the best game I played this year wasn’t really a game at all?

In June, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree was released to near-universal acclaim, with critics and general audiences alike awed by its expansive maps, pulse-pounding boss battles and artful fine-tuning of the game’s difficulty, a trademark characteristic of developer FromSoftware and industry icon Hidetaka Miyazaki. Like so many millions who set launch weekend aside to play Shadow of the Erdtree, I can’t count how many times the game brutally punished me for my mistakes — just as I can’t count how many times I rose from the mat for another round.

The only problem in Shadow of the Erdtree’s race for end-of-year awards is that it’s technically DLC (gaming parlance for downloadable content meant to add to the base game) for 2022’s Elden Ring.