The sharp rise of the gaming industry over the last few decades has treated gamers to a consistent increase in the number of incredible games releasing each year. Last year, players were treated to excellent titles like DOOM Eternal, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Half-Life: Alyx, and Yakuza: Like a Dragon which all lived up to their high expectations. 2020 also signaled the beginning of the ninth generation of console, as the Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 hit stores to the delight of those lucky enough to get their hands on one.
With the sheer number of releases that now flood each system, it requires something special to be recognized as the industry's single most highly anticipated release. Elden Ring holds this title in the minds of many, though five other games could argue that they deserve the title more. It's worth noting that this list won't include games that haven't been officially announced yet, such as Grand Theft Auto VI and Half-Life 3.
10 FromSoftware's Track Record
When a new game is announced, the first thing that many players will look at is who the developer is. Elden Ring is being developed by FromSoftware, who are best known today for the so-called Soulsborne franchise, which includes critically acclaimed games like Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, and Bloodborne. Before the release of Demon's Souls, FromSoftware was synonymous with the Armored Core series, which provided fans of mecha-shooters with a plethora of enjoyable titles.
FromSoftware's most recent release, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, was showered with awards upon release, including The Game Awards' prestigious Game of The Year accolade.
9 Deserves It More - Project 007
Across all media, if a person or franchise releases an iconic piece of work early in their career, their subsequent work is often held to the same standard. For example, M. Night Shyamalan's films are frequently compared to The Sixth Sense and Nas' albums are compared to Illmatic. These constant comparisons can sometimes be a curse, as their subsequent work likely won't stack up to the previous classics, and will often be unfairly criticized.
James Bond is one of the video gaming industry's best examples of this, as great games like Nightfire and Everything or Nothing are often overlooked because they aren't quite on the same level as GoldenEye 007. IO Interactive, who recently released Hitman 3 to a warm reception, will be hoping that they can exceed the high expectations that have already been placed on Project 007's shoulders.
8 Soulsborne's Influence
FromSoftware's Soulsborne series isn't just known fondly for the sheer quality of its games, but for how influential it has been on the gaming industry. The Soulsborne series has reminded players of how rewarding a challenging experience can be, and how satisfying it is to take down a punishingly tough boss.
Furthermore, FromSoftware removed excessive hand-holding from its Soulsbrone games, by excluding common RPG and adventure mechanics like maps and quest markers, to ensure that players can properly immerse themselves in the game's setting by exploring the world more naturally. Developers that shift the dynamic of the gaming industry don't come along too often, so when one has a new release in the pipeline, it's extremely exciting to see what direction the game will go in.
7 Deserves It More - God of War: Ragnarök
God of War (2018) was the eighth main installment in the iconic hack and slash series of the same name and is widely considered to be the franchise's best entry. Santa Monica Studio's action-adventure drastically changed the gameplay formula from the franchise's previous installments, by changing the camera perspective, offering more open levels, and adding a companion in the form of Atreus.
Another change that God of War (2018) made was its shift in focus from Greek Mythology to Norse Mythology. This change is clearly here to stay with God of War: Ragnarök, as the term Ragnarök refers to a fight to the end of the world in Norse Mythology.
6 New Lore
As alluded to before, the way that the Soulsborne games tell their story has been one of FromSoftware's greatest gifts to the gaming industry. At a time when many video games were trying to essentially be interactive films, FromSoftware introduced a way of storytelling that played to gaming's strengths.
FromSoftware's way of telling its narrative through optional exploration has been most notably utilized in the latest entry to the iconic Legend of Zelda series, Breath of the Wild. It is expected that Elden Ring will follow a similar structure, to ensure that players who fully invest themselves into the game are rewarded along the way with information gained by items found and NPC's spoken to.
5 Deserves It More - Halo Infinite
It's fair to say that Halo Infinite hasn't had the smoothest of development cycles so far; as well as announcing a lengthy delay, the upcoming game became a meme after the world was introduced to Craig.
Although delays can be frustrating, they are certainly worthwhile to ensure that when players purchase a new game, they're getting the experience that they expected. The classic Miyamoto quote "a delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad" was once the go-to response to people complaining about delays, though the quote itself has recently joined Craig as a gaming meme. Thankfully, CD Projekt has inadvertently stepped in to help, as their latest release Cyberpunk 2077 has shown exactly why games shouldn't be released until they're ready.
4 George R. R. Martin's Involvement
It's safe to say that the Game of Thrones television series didn't go out on a bang but more of a whimper that disappointed much of the show's engrossed fanbase. There is plenty of blame that can be shared out for the show's decline, though not too much of it should be directed towards the author of the Game of Thrones book series, George R. R. Martin. The decline can be almost precisely pinpointed to when the show creators ran out of book material to use, making it hard to blame the American writer.
The Elden Ring trailer describes the game as being "a new world created by Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R. R. Martin," which is an extremely exciting prospect for fans of fantasy stories and settings.
3 Deserves It More - Hogwarts Legacy
Along with a Skyrim-like Pokémon game, a Harry Potter RPG has been at the top of many gamers' wish list for years. Although there's still no-word of Nintendo making a Pokémon game in a world like Skyrim or Breath of the Wild's Hyrule, there has been an official announcement of a role-playing game in Hogwarts.
Not too much is known about Hogwarts Legacy outside of the story, which will take players to Hogwarts in the late 1800s. The game was recently delayed until 2022, though most fans won't be too disappointed about this, as they've been waiting for a game such as this for decades.
2 It's Unique
Although many developers have tried, no game has been able to recapture the magic of FromSoftware's Soulsborne franchise. "Souls-like" has become a popular term in the gaming industry, and Steam even lists it as an official sub-genre.
Having a unique product such as this is extremely valuable in all forms of media. There will always be another WW2 first-person shooter to play, and there will always be another licensed sports game; though there likely won't be many games that compare to Elden Ring.
1 Deserves It More - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2
Since the original Legend of Zelda was released in 1986, it's not too far-fetched to say that every main series Zelda game has been one of, if not the most anticipated release of its corresponding year. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 is possibly the most anticipated game of the series since 2006's Twilight Princess, as the original Breath of the Wild has already become one of the franchise's most beloved entries.
Nintendo hasn't given too much information away about the game so far, with a short teaser trailer being the only source of reliable information so far. The trailer heavily suggests that the game will follow the gameplay formula that Breath of the Wild introduced, which has delighted fans of the franchise.