What games did genuienly impress you?
Sept 8, 2019 18:05:17 GMT -5
RedWhaley14, AquaHeart, and 1 more like this
Post by Ezel on Sept 8, 2019 18:05:17 GMT -5
I thought it'd be an interesting topic to talk about. We all play a lot of games and I've thought what would be a game or a few selected games that you found very impressive in terms of creativity, or just really well made game design.
To avoid spoilers, I will add some of the more spoiler-y things in tags, so beware.
For me there would be a few picks:
1) Minecraft
Obviously this would get in there, mostly because it's the biggest sandbox game ever. Even though it's over 10 years old, nothing could top how many possibilities does Minecraft give the player. The term "open world" is a big thing in this game, and everything is completely up to you how your world will be handled. You control the world, and it's only limited by your creativity and imagination. It definitely revolutionised the sandbox genre of games. Not to mention you can also extend it by playing multiplayer with a bunch of plugins, play a massive variety of mods, etc. It's just all endless, and while Java Minecraft has rather poor optimization, it's SO configurable it's just amazing.
2) Geometry Dash (level editor)
The game itself isn't the most creative thing ever, but the editor... oh boy, I haven't seen such a powerful editor in any video game. The fact you can literally create custom AI and your own "game mechanics" via triggers is something that was unbelievable to people before 2.0 came out. This has helped some people such as Serponge to start creating their own simple games, and it's crazy how a "simple" game encourages someone to try out game designing.
3) Undertale
This game seems to be a bit overhated due to its really strange fanbase, however the game itself is actually very unique. It looks like a typical retro styled RPG, but I actually never felt that attached to a game's characters in any game. It also does something that a lot of games tried but failed:
4) Celeste
I've played or seen a lot of platformer games in my life, even the hard ones such as Super Meat Boy or the Guy Games which were infamous for their design, however while they had their fun moments, they had a lot of flaws that annoyed me. Celeste on the other hand is probably one of the most fair difficult platformers I've ever played. It doesn't hold your hand, but it treats you with respect. It challenges you, but it doesn't try to overly punish you which is something A LOT of games don't do. In many situations if you fail, you have a chance to redeem yourself with enough skill, and that's so good. This game was also designed so well that people made it with the intent of being friendly for speedrunners - it even has a built-in timer for them! It also has a large amount of secrets and collectibles that reward people who love exploring, however this is not the end. Something that I found really unique was the story and its character design:
If you think there's a game that really impressed you, feel free to talk about it here. I'd like to see what games did impact other people.
To avoid spoilers, I will add some of the more spoiler-y things in tags, so beware.
For me there would be a few picks:
1) Minecraft
Obviously this would get in there, mostly because it's the biggest sandbox game ever. Even though it's over 10 years old, nothing could top how many possibilities does Minecraft give the player. The term "open world" is a big thing in this game, and everything is completely up to you how your world will be handled. You control the world, and it's only limited by your creativity and imagination. It definitely revolutionised the sandbox genre of games. Not to mention you can also extend it by playing multiplayer with a bunch of plugins, play a massive variety of mods, etc. It's just all endless, and while Java Minecraft has rather poor optimization, it's SO configurable it's just amazing.
2) Geometry Dash (level editor)
The game itself isn't the most creative thing ever, but the editor... oh boy, I haven't seen such a powerful editor in any video game. The fact you can literally create custom AI and your own "game mechanics" via triggers is something that was unbelievable to people before 2.0 came out. This has helped some people such as Serponge to start creating their own simple games, and it's crazy how a "simple" game encourages someone to try out game designing.
3) Undertale
This game seems to be a bit overhated due to its really strange fanbase, however the game itself is actually very unique. It looks like a typical retro styled RPG, but I actually never felt that attached to a game's characters in any game. It also does something that a lot of games tried but failed:
Many games have tried to give the player choices by either sacrificing someone or something in your progression, but usually the player either doesn't care or it just doesn't really affect the game at all. In Undertale your decisions can have a large impact on your progression, and I love how it nailed the morality factor. When you're respectful to the characters and don't hurt anyone, people will eventually respect you as well by giving you the true ending, however everytime you brutally murder someone, the game always points it out and mocks you for your behavior. This can especially be noticed when Sans judges you, and honestly not gonna lie, if he found out I killed Papyrus on the first blind playthrough, not knowing how the game works, I felt lowkey uncomfortable, and I love that. When you act like a bad person, the game tries its best to make you feel bad, and it does it so well. I've seen other devs attempting to do this kind of mechanic, but I really haven't seen someone do it as well as Undertale did. In this game I felt really bad when I messed up, and being a good person actually felt rewarding.
4) Celeste
I've played or seen a lot of platformer games in my life, even the hard ones such as Super Meat Boy or the Guy Games which were infamous for their design, however while they had their fun moments, they had a lot of flaws that annoyed me. Celeste on the other hand is probably one of the most fair difficult platformers I've ever played. It doesn't hold your hand, but it treats you with respect. It challenges you, but it doesn't try to overly punish you which is something A LOT of games don't do. In many situations if you fail, you have a chance to redeem yourself with enough skill, and that's so good. This game was also designed so well that people made it with the intent of being friendly for speedrunners - it even has a built-in timer for them! It also has a large amount of secrets and collectibles that reward people who love exploring, however this is not the end. Something that I found really unique was the story and its character design:
When we're starting the main levels, our main character is a young girl who's blind for her dreams, which is reaching the top of a massive mysterious mountain. During it she finds out that the magic of the mountain created a different part of herself that is the opposite of her character, who's trying to prevent her from reaching the top. Not knowing who that is, she tries to run away or avoid contact with that person, however later we realise that she's been a hard kid who's dealing with mental problems in her life, and that the character that's haunting her, is a part of her that consists of her anxiety and negative thoughts. This eventually did lead to her trying to understand the other side that the other side needs help.
Honestly, as someone who is kinda into psychology, I loved the way the game showed this. A character filled with anxiety and possible depression encounters her inner thoughts which are shown in the game as a sort of alter-ego which is haunting her through most of the game, is something I haven't really seen in games. The main character tried to run away from it, however it ended up with the result getting even worse and worse, but later she understood that avoiding it isn't the way, and if she wants to reach her goal, she needs to help the other part of her. In an innocent platformer it shows a moral lesson, that mental issues are a common and very serious problem in our world, and that trying to run away from them isn't the way to counter them, that help from others is what helps these people break through the wall of anxiety. It's actually so good.
Honestly, as someone who is kinda into psychology, I loved the way the game showed this. A character filled with anxiety and possible depression encounters her inner thoughts which are shown in the game as a sort of alter-ego which is haunting her through most of the game, is something I haven't really seen in games. The main character tried to run away from it, however it ended up with the result getting even worse and worse, but later she understood that avoiding it isn't the way, and if she wants to reach her goal, she needs to help the other part of her. In an innocent platformer it shows a moral lesson, that mental issues are a common and very serious problem in our world, and that trying to run away from them isn't the way to counter them, that help from others is what helps these people break through the wall of anxiety. It's actually so good.
If you think there's a game that really impressed you, feel free to talk about it here. I'd like to see what games did impact other people.
