The greatest video game..ever made? : Othor Games

» Sun May 13, 2012 4:13 pm

Ah, Ocarina of Time, a classic of our time. I'd have to say it's a toss up between OoT or the Fallout Series.

» Sun May 13, 2012 10:11 pm

Barbie Horse Adventures: WIld Horse Rescue's got all the things OP mentioned, and more.

» Sun May 13, 2012 7:03 am

Barbie Horse Adventures: WIld Horse Rescue's got all the things OP mentioned, and more.

I prefer Barbie Horse Adventures: Mystery Ride. It has this darkness and edgyness that I feel is missing from all the other Barbie Horse Adventures games.

» Sun May 13, 2012 9:35 am

Mirror's Edge

Granted, the game is rather linear but the level design, aesthetics, gameplay and soundtrack are absolutely brilliant. The story is somewhat generic but it's well written and very enjoyable.

» Sun May 13, 2012 10:22 pm

Planescape: Torment. Story > graphics.

» Sun May 13, 2012 7:45 am

Ocarina of Time, I'm real happy for you and Imma let you finish, but Planescape: Torment was one of the best video games of ALL TIME.

» Sun May 13, 2012 10:28 am

Planescape: Torment. Story > graphics.

I think the problem with that argument is that so many people take it to its logical conclusion and consider graphics to be the antithesis of a good story, therefore any game that has decent graphics is rubbish. Fortunately it's not actually true, though it's bizarre (and strangely irritating) to see.

» Sun May 13, 2012 5:29 pm

Mirror's Edge

Granted, the game is rather linear but the level design, aesthetics, gameplay and soundtrack are absolutely brilliant. The story is somewhat generic but it's well written and very enjoyable.

Now that DICE has released Battlefield 3 I really hope they're working on Mirror's Edge 2.

Planescape: Torment. Story > graphics.

It was a pretty good looking game at the time I think. All those handdrawn landscapes... Too bad computer monitors at the time were not big enough to show much of it at once. http://darkagen.test.shared.easynet.nl/pics/pst.jpg http://www.shsforums.net/uploads/monthly_01_2011/post-16958-129536756531.jpg... I say it aged pretty well graphics wise.

The combat is still as bad as it always was though. :tongue:

Final Fantasy VII for all the reasons you said.

This on the other hand, did not age well graphics wise at all.

Going back to them many years later, late 2D games look so much better than early 3D games. Chrono Trigger looks way better than Final Fantasy 7.

As for my favourite, it's still Deus Ex. The only problems it has is bad voice acting for many unimportant characters (especially in Hong Kong), an economy system that makes no sense at all (750 for a permament weapon upgrade, but 3000 for tech goggles that last very short?), and a rather boring computer hacking system. But those are fairly minor issues.

» Sun May 13, 2012 7:38 am

I prefer Barbie Horse Adventures: Mystery Ride. It has this darkness and edgyness that I feel is missing from all the other Barbie Horse Adventures games.

Of course, don't know how I forgot that one. I loved the darker tone they took with the story, they really fleshed out Barbie's character as well - she's the most compelling protagonist I've ever seen in a game.

» Sun May 13, 2012 6:55 am

Now that DICE has released Battlefield 3 I really hope they're working on Mirror's Edge 2.

They are;

DICE thinks that now would be a good time to reveal Mirror's Edge 2, at least in terms of having a receptive audience.

Speaking to Spong, studio producer Patrick Liu said the audience is there and DICE is aware of what it needs to do to make sure sales match critical reception the second time around.

"I think it's something that people are ready to get into again," Liu told Spong when asked if he thought Mirror's Edge 2 would do well.
"We see that there's a huge fan following, it's almost like a cult! And we know what strengths we had, and what weaknesses we had in that game. If we were to release a new game, we'd know what to improve and how to reach a broader audience. So I definitely think there's a market there."

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/321751/mirrors-edge-2-people-are-ready-says-dice/

» Sun May 13, 2012 9:04 pm

My personal favorites are Morrowind, Mass Effect, and Planescape: Torment. All three create totally unique worlds that are easy to get lost in and fun to play.

» Sun May 13, 2012 7:29 am

I think Ocarina of Time would be one of my all-time favourites aswell, probably because I played it as a kid and grew up playing it. Lots of great memories!

» Sun May 13, 2012 11:22 am

Of course, don't know how I forgot that one. I loved the darker tone they took with the story, they really fleshed out Barbie's character as well - she's the most compelling protagonist I've ever seen in a game.

The amount of choices and consequences in it really impressed me... Just imagine how dramatically the whole world is affected by your choice of horse color! And what if your horse doesn't match your shoes?!

» Sun May 13, 2012 8:50 am

Shadow of the Colossus.

» Sun May 13, 2012 6:00 pm

You made the OoC typo twice now, I'm not sure how. Anyway.

"Poetic" is too vague and personally defined to argue effectively, but the writing never stood out to me. It's decent enough, but most characters have fairly limited lines (Zelda games aren't oriented around dialogue or NPC interaction, anyway), and there's not much room for development. It doesn't hurt the game or anything since it doesn't rely on that, but most of the dialogue struck me as just, standard dialogue. Calling the story "deep and multi-dimensional" is a confusing point for me. Evil force wants to do evil stuff because that's what he's into. Heroic hero has to stop him. It's more or less the same story as every Zelda game, and for that matter, almost every game ever. The overall setting and lore of the world, while probably stronger than most previous Zelda games, is still not particularly impressive in the medium.

Cutscene direction, I have nothing against. Memorable characters...that would be easier to discuss, if I remembered half of them. Almost everyone who isn't Link, Ganondorf, or Zelda (who have about 2 paragraphs of dialogue between them) is a more-or-less irrelevant side character. The game does a good job of making most of them interesting for your brief interaction, but I would be hard-pressed to give the praise of "MEMORABLE" characters to a game where most of them are people you give or receive an item from once and then never see again.

Aside from writing and characters, the things on the list I didn't jive with were challenging puzzles and a sense of changing the world. OoT was probably the easiest game in the series when it arrived, and that was actually one of my main gripes after playing through it. I'm fairly sure I beat it without dying once. The cutscenes were fun, but it killed the mood for me when it dramatically introduced a boss who was dead ten seconds later, and all the compiled items I had access to would feel more interesting if I actually needed anything other than the sword and boomerang for uses other than opening doors and such. I can't clearly remember a single puzzle from the game, as opposed to one with much more puzzling puzzles, Lufia 2, which I haven't played in even longer. Changing the world, well, not much to say outside of "I don't see it". The world is changing because of the events you're questing around, you're not really doing any of it. Clearing a dungeon doesn't generally have much effect beyond maybe a couple NPC's who have something to say about that dungeon.

Note that I'm not in any way trying to say it's not a good game or that the above reasons invalidate good reviews or anything. I'm not going to downrate Tetris for not having a story, for example, and the Legend of Zelda games have never really been about story. I just don't think it really deserves the highest possible praise in those areas.

Yes, it's OoT, not OoC. My mistake! I'm not really sure I understand the inclusion of the time spent with characters while making your argument as to why they aren't "memorable" enough for you. That's the very reason that they ARE memorable. Because NPC's that I have brief conversations with are written so well that I do remember them, I have for 10 years. That kind of says something, yes?

-Sheik (Zelda) that character is written so well that I had no idea it was Zelda while knowing it was the entire time. The dialogue between Link and Sheik was great.
-The Gorons in general. Especially Darunia. It gives a real sense of a culture, a real, living culture. The same is said for them in Majora's Mask.
-The little girl in the Lost Woods who is waiting for you after you are running back to him with the medicine you had the witch make you out of the forest mushroom. I remember her..why? Because she's [censored] creepy..written so well that she left a lasting impression on me with her creepiness.
-Ruto, the princess of the Zora. The cuteness of this character in Jabu Jabu's Belly is almost unbearable. She's stubborn, cute, and knows what she wants, just like a real princess. The whole "love promise through time" thing is also fun. It's memorable.
-The gate-guard outside Death Mountain that wants you to go get his "son" a Keaton Mask, yet wears it for the rest of his life himself. Hilarious.

Need I go on? The characters are brief, but if they weren't memorable for those brief moments, I wouldn't remember them, and I do, vividly. The game is very well written.

The game has strong cinematic elements. The cutscenes are one of my favorite parts of the game. I feel it's a movie that I can participate in.

» Sun May 13, 2012 7:36 pm

Not everybody loves kiddie games ya know.

"I only play mature games, for mature gamers such as myself." That's what you sound like. You sound exactly like those 14 year-olds that think because Nintendo games don't have Grimdark stories that they're for kids. OoT was not a kiddie game, I'd suggest you'd play it but you probably wouldn't finish because it doesn't hold your hand. I dare a child to beat OoT. Saying things like you said is like wearing a giant, flashy sign that says "I'm an angsty young teen."

On Topic:
OoT or the classic MegaMan series.

» Sun May 13, 2012 6:13 pm

Need I go on? The characters are brief, but if they weren't memorable for those brief moments, I wouldn't remember them, and I do, vividly. The game is very well written.

The thing is that I'm separating "memorable" from "remembered". I don't remember a single line of dialogue from any of the characters you mentioned, and I'm not in a good position to personally refresh my memory on the writing quality (my brother sold my N64 console and games years ago). If a game as a whole makes an impression on you, though, you're likely to remember factors of it more vividly regardless of what they are. I remember seeing those characters (except the lost woods mushroom girl, who I don't remember at all). I also remember Kensu bitterly saying "people like you should be eaten by zombies" in Crystalis, the regretful scattered last words of Naju's last survivor in The Guardian Legend, and Bloody Malth in Ninja Gaiden. All games older than OoT, likely not written as well and also probably poorly translated, given the era. I remember these characters, and countless others, but that doesn't mean I regard them as memorable, if that makes any sense. I mention their briefness because this is the state of most videogame NPC's: someone with a couple lines who's there to fill a very specific function and then disappear into obscurity. The characters in Ocarina of Time, for me, did not particularly establish themselves as more memorable than the background characters of any other game.

Part of my trouble heaping praise on OoT is that it's not my favorite Zelda game; that would be Link to the Past. It's difficult to see any element of it as *the best*, even when I do consider it a good game, when there's another installment in the very same series that I consider superior in almost every single area.

» Sun May 13, 2012 8:40 am

There is no "greatest" game for me, but a compilation of games.
Counter Strike Source
Garry's Mod
Half life 2
Pretty much any valve game except portal 2

» Sun May 13, 2012 1:43 pm

Command and Conquer.

» Sun May 13, 2012 1:27 pm

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

» Sun May 13, 2012 11:14 am

And what if your horse doesn't match your shoes?!

Hah! Like I'd ever make a mistake like that!

» Sun May 13, 2012 5:59 am

Planescape: Torment. Story > graphics.

Gameplay > Story.

If I want a good story, i'll go read a novel. No video game storyline will ever be up there with the best novels.

Even the very best video game storylines are scarcely on par with a short children's novel.

» Sun May 13, 2012 8:38 pm

Either Myst, or its sequel Riven. Seriously, I cannot recommend these games enough, they are brilliant. Excellent, original writing, great mystery, and the music, art, and sounds are all masterfully designed, and the gameplay is of course excellent. Very rich worlds filled with history.

» Sun May 13, 2012 6:18 am

Gameplay > Story.

Elder Scrolls fan?

» Sun May 13, 2012 1:36 pm

If I want a good story, i'll go read a novel. No video game storyline will ever be up there with the best novels.

Even the very best video game storylines are scarcely on par with a short children's novel.

It's okay that you prefer gameplay to story, but neither of those statements are even a little true.