The rant

D

Derfel

Dandy Guy, in Space
Ok, I have been following two topics in this section of the forums lately, and it sure built up the bitterness inside me. I just wondered, has there actually been a proper masterpiece in the last few years? A game with superb plot, battle system, graphics, cutscenes, style, characters, etc.

I highly doubt. Yeah, decent games we've seen, but that's not the same, it doesn't have that overwhelmingly epic feel, doesn't carry the player away.

Instead, we have what? [Generic Sports Game] [Year]? Yeah right, thats just so ******* amazing. Lego Harry Potter? WTF? At least if it was plain Harry Potter, ok, but wtf is with the players? Why must it be lego? Need for Speed? Burnout? Huh? Why? Why the hell?

I'm honestly of the opinion that some organisation should sabotage all the crap developers. Will we get a bloody plot anytime soon? Like some transcendental apocalypse? Like Xenogears perhaps? Hmm, how does that sound?

Anyhow, this topic has very little actual aim, so its perfect for rants and arguments I guess.
 
I've really been loosing interest in games over the past year, they just aren't coming up with anything that interests me anymore.
I mean, not counting Ace Attorney: Investigations.
 
The one that comfortably fits, imo, is MGS4. But there are other games I would consider excellent from the last few years, too.
 
ilmaestro said:
The one that comfortably fits, imo, is MGS4. But there are other games I would consider excellent from the last few years, too.
Click to expand...

While MGS4 is probably a good riposte to the plot part, it is lacking in other aspects. For all practical purposes it ismore of an interactive film than a game, and the online version is well... an online version, we all know online versions well. :D
 
Mass Effect is one recent game that I thought had something special. Certainly I found myself deeply immersed in it for long periods of time. It's been well over a year since I played it so I don't remember too much about the plot, meaning it likely wasn't exceptional, but Bioware did create a vast, meticulously detailed world and history that I found absolutely fascinating. Before playing I read through the 30~ page "Galactic Codex" booklet included with the limited edition and I was amazed at how much work had gone into constructing Mass Effect's universe.
 
Derfel said:
ilmaestro said:
The one that comfortably fits, imo, is MGS4. But there are other games I would consider excellent from the last few years, too.
Click to expand...

While MGS4 is probably a good riposte to the plot part, it is lacking in other aspects. For all practical purposes it ismore of an interactive film than a game, and the online version is well... an online version, we all know online versions well. :D
Click to expand...

The online version is balls, but i'd say MGS4 suits 'masterpiece' alright.

Valkyria Chronicles was beautiful and superb gameplay and plot despite being uner the radar to most gamers.

LittleBigPlanet has truely introduced something fabulous to the games industry.
 
Spyro201 said:
LittleBigPlanet has truely introduced something fabulous to the games industry.
Click to expand...

The guy has a point with this - I can't even remember when the last time I found three other friends willing to fiddle with routers and microphones to get multiplayer going before LBP came out, and we often laughed so hard we cried once we got regular play sessions going.

I'm not sure about Lego Harry Potter but Lego Batman has been a popular addition to our game library here. It's just fun, without silly complicated controllers, distracting gimmicks or bleeding edge graphics. A lot of games nowadays seem to have forgotten to include some good, old-fashioned fun and take themselves far too seriously. I also find punching Batman unimaginably therapeutic after a hard day at work.

Shadow of the Colossus was only a few years ago, as well.

Most of the other games I like are very small scale and I don't think they'd fit your criteria even if I personally adored them. There are a few gems out there though amongst the garbage.

R
 
Xenosaga is epic, even though the series was cut down from six games to three owing to poor sales. Everything I wrote about Mass Effect's world applies equally to Xenosaga. The in-game database is MASSIVE.
 
Lupus said:
Also, I wouldn't mind playing Xenosaga for this scene alone.
Click to expand...

If the rest of the dialogue is at that level, and that guy appears a lot, I wouldn't mind watching Xenosaga. Even though I own all three games, I can't find the motivation to get into a a three part game series that's the spiritual sequel/prequel/whatever to Xenogears - a game that requires a guide for the story.

It might be worth picking up a PAL copy of Xenosaga just for the extra DVD, which contains all the cut-scenes from Xenosaga. But, then again, it'd be an awful waste not to play Xenosaga when I own it and can play it...

There is actually an Xenosaga anime, but it's short and is supposed to suck. Worse yet, it requires knowledge of the games to understand a lot of the story.
 
Aion said:
There is actually an Xenosaga anime, but it's short and is supposed to suck. Worse yet, it requires knowledge of the games to understand a lot of the story.
Click to expand...
Aha!! That explains everything!

Now that you mentioned, I've got this series a long time ago, back in the times I was more of a gamer than I am now and was into Xenosaga.

The cutscenes in the game were WAY better than the anime.

OT: I recently mentioned my old Atari 2600, which reminded me the days when all we cared about were getting high scores in Enduro / Pitfall / Pacman. I think that Guitar Hero brought that back a little. But this is not the game you're talking about.

WOW perhaps?
 
Derfel said:
Ok, I have been following two topics in this section of the forums lately, and it sure built up the bitterness inside me. I just wondered, has there actually been a proper masterpiece in the last few years? A game with superb plot, battle system, graphics, cutscenes, style, characters, etc.

I highly doubt. Yeah, decent games we've seen, but that's not the same, it doesn't have that overwhelmingly epic feel, doesn't carry the player away.
Click to expand...
Masterpieces only turn up once every 5 years. It's a bit much to expect one even one every year.
 
Great games in the last two years, odly not a hard choice...

I dont think you need everything to be great to have a master piece. Look at art.

But my list would contain:
Mass effect: Good graphics, Good story, Fantastic voice acting.

Metal gear solid 4: Fantastic graphics, good story, good voice acting, good game mechanics.

Valkyria Chronicles: Novel graphics, good story, good voice acting, good game mechanics. (probably my favourite game in the last 4 years).

Bioshock: Good graphics, good story and setting, great art direction.
 
Derfel said:
ilmaestro said:
The one that comfortably fits, imo, is MGS4. But there are other games I would consider excellent from the last few years, too.
Click to expand...

While MGS4 is probably a good riposte to the plot part, it is lacking in other aspects. For all practical purposes it ismore of an interactive film than a game
Click to expand...
I'd heartily disagree. The shooting in MGS4 is as action-packed and exciting as any dedicated shooter, for me. And you can choose to play it stealthily instead. There are large sections of dialog, yes, but I think a lot of gameplay, too. A lot more than MGS2, for exampe.

But I'd also back up Fabby - Mass Effect might be the best answer.
 
I would also mention Prince of Persia, it's like UbiSoft basically copied Team Ico's ideals when making a game and attempted it themselves. Pretty good game too in general, apart from the fact you can't die, but that's just a stupid thing people complain about.
 
Bioshock has its detractors, but personally, I love it. The shooting is pretty 'meh' and all two of you that actually purchased System Shock 2 are entitled to moan about the similarities (otherwise, stop trying to do the whole 'I was there before it was cool' schtick, because you suck), but it's a damned fine game otherwise, with a selection of gaming's most amazing scenes and a slightly less macho version of Ayn Rand (and how would anyone have known how macho Ayn Rand was if Bioshock didn't lead us to the bookstore to search out her books and go '1000 pages? I better be able to shoot lightning from my finger tips by the time I've finished'?)...
 
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