To be fair, I think God of War (2018 + Ragnarok) are really on their own level in terms of storytelling and cinematic experiences in video games. I do think there’s room for experiences like this as well as ones that give the player more freedom. GOW is on the extreme end, but it’s also extremely good at what it does…so fair enough IMO.
Personally I much prefer video games as a sandbox, but I can still appreciate that God of War is compelling entertainment. I could probably find time to play 2-3 “experiences” like that a year. Plus the combat in GOW is fun, they really nailed that axe.
the Mavel movies are also really damn good at what they are doing yet noone in their right mind would tell you they are on the level to warrant this amount of praise.
even people who love them...
I think the discourse around games is absolutely ridiculous when it comes to this. noone seems to be able to separate "I really love this" from "this is award worthy".
in almost all other forms of media this is different it seems. you constantly hear people say how much they love a certain movie but at the same time don't also say that it's genuinely a genius example of its specific medium.
it feels like in gaming as soon as people love a game they are also at the same time convinced that it's among the best in the medium.
I loved Thor Love and Thunder, but you would never hear me trying to argue with you or anyone else that it is a genius movie, because it isn't... it's popcorn cinema that is entertaining and has a high production value... not dissimilar to Ragnarök.
also I feel like the cinematic aspects of these games is often overrated. not only because I think that "cinematic" isn't something any game should strive for, but also because even in that regard these games aren't that good. animation, writing, acting... almost all of these elements are so far below good movies that you can't even really compare that either.