EXCEPT…for when your computer teammate jumps in front of you while you’re shooting and accosts you for it, then a second later they literally mow down a bunch of infected by shooting through you with no consequences.
Hades. Transcends the rogue-like genre through incredible writing, art direction, and music. The gameplay is some of the most addictive I’ve ever played. I’m at over 200 hours logged and I still get lost in it.
The fucking asteroids in the original Dead Space, fuck those things. Though knowing my luck they were locked to frame rate or some shit which made it difficult on PC.
It counts as a masterpiece because of how well it blends game design, gameplay and story. I have played very few games as thoughtful, or that weaved the gameplay together into the story it was telling in such a meaningful way. I never thought once in my life that I would think philosophically about bullet hell but somehow Nier Automata has something profound to say and even manages to say it using bullet hell as a gameplay mechanic.
On top of all this, it also has a lot to say about classical philosophers, their works, and honestly deeply subverts things they had to say. It asks tough questions about their thoughts and ideas, once again, through gameplay. Numerous characters are named for classical philosophers: Pascal, Jean-Paul, Simone, Engels, Immanuel… (Yoko Taro obviously has feelings about how Jean-Paul Sartre treated Simone de Beauvoir.)
Further, Yoko Taro is doing something that a lot of game developers fail to manage to do: He is embracing gaming as a storytelling medium and eschewing the traditional three-act arc from film. Because gaming is not film. As Marshall McLuhan posited, “the medium is the message” and unlike other developers Taro’s writing is aimed at the medium he is working in instead of leaning on the ropes and tropes of other mediums. (Referring back to above, tying the gameplay into the story, focusing on the medium)
It’s basically impossible to not break down into tears at the ending.
Don’t write it off because of the scantily clad anime women. Stay for the depth of the human condition. It is truly a masterwork in multiple respects.
For a moment I thought you were talking about the Newsmax host and I was very offended and confused, but it looks like there is another, lesser known Chris Plante in gaming journalism.
spoilerThe wild part is that he’s so good at subverting anime tropes, too. The “killing god” trope is mentioned in the first lines of the game… and then going on to battling the end credits themselves?? Literally killing the gods who created the world this all exists in? Taking it to the absurd yet logical extreme, so brilliant.
Man, I wish I understood a single bit of this evaluation of the game after finishing every chapter (sorry - “Ending”). The whole thing felt mostly like a waste of time.
That said, I’m a fan of Spec Ops: The Line, a game that has much the same level of division among its players. Interesting how philosophical games get that reaction.
And it’s on sale for 10$ on steam rn, damn. It’s missing the multi-player tag, otherwise I would have had it on my wishlist for co-op 3rd person shooters sooner :<
Same. I put in like 3 hours into Breakpoint and I was like 'where’s literally all the flavor gone from this game? So glad I waited until it was like a 5 dollar steam sale. Even then I tried to refund it but was past the ‘trial’ period.
Roller Coaster Tycoon 1. (2 was weaker without OpenRCT2, the real masterpiece, but idk if unfinished projects should count or not)
Quake 3 Arena, Unreal Tournament 1999 GOTY, Worms Armageddon, SimCity 3000 Unlimited, Forza Horizon 2 / Motorsport 3, Need for Speed Underground 1, Clonk! Rage, Metal Gear Solid 1/2/3, Ace Combat 4, Okami, Tokyo Jungle, Zelda BOTW, Mario Odyssey, Sven Co-Op, Killing Floor 1, Final Fantasy 7, LISA: The Painful, Everhood 1, Deus Ex 1, Left 4 Dead 1/2, Portal 2, Battlefield Bad Company 2… Champions of Norrath and Return to Arms, Diablo 1, Baldur’s Gate 3 makes the list…NIER both games. Planet MiniGolf.
I’m playing World of Goo, a physics game from 2008 that I bought in a Humble Bundle forever ago.
I tried it again on a lark and it holds up, I got sucked in. Classic physics game. One level takes me less than 15 minutes to complete, but it varies significantly.
There are interesting conflicting pressures in the game: you want to build with as little as possible, because the building material are your little dudes you’re trying to get to safety. Gravity exists, and weight distribution matters: sometimes you must harness this fact to win.
Some levels are about building methodically, carefully choosing where to use the corpse of a sacrificed little dudes, because it is an immutable choice.
Other levels are about dynamics and timing, and you can get tantalizingly close to saving your entire team in these levels.
Its old, its cheap, it should run on most things1. Strong recommend.
1: not android: NetFlix did one of their closed market acquisitions making “free” games here
I’m taking this to mean games that stand out in or define their genre, are widely considered to be excellent, are timeless, and there’s very little if any fat to trim.
Super Mario Brothers - NES
Super Mario 64
Dark Souls - maybe Elden Ring takes over?
Return of the Obra Dinn
Half Life 2 - honorable mention: Left 4 Dead 2
Diablo 2
Doom
Tetris
Chrono Trigger
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Portal 2
Little Nightmares - honorable mention: INSIDE
GTA SA
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2
These aren’t necessarily my favorite games, but games I think are well respected. I probably missed a bunch.
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