[Sliver]

Since 90% of talk about video games is focused on graphics and game play this thread is for the other 10% of the discussion. The games that had greats stories/characters/music that might have slid under peoples radar.

Since I started the thread I'll go first.

Vanguard Bandits

The game is a typical Japanese strategy rpg. It takes place in a feudalistic setting where despite the fact that the populace has yet to discover the technology necessary for the light bulb or indoor plumbing have somehow mastered the art of building giant robots. And true to any game of cartoon to come out of Japan with giant robots, is filled with drama and political intrigue.(See, Front Mission 1-4, the Metal Gear series, anything with the name Gundam or Macross in it.)

The plotline is cliché. The game is on rails so you fight a fixed number of battles in a certain order with story sequences to act as buffers between them and the only thing you get to do between battles is talk to certain characters to get some dialogue out of them before a battle.

So what makes this game noteworthy? Aside from the solid battle system which can make or break an rpg, it also has the best cast of characters I've seen in an rpg, ever. Antithetical to most rpgs that come out of Japan where all the characters have to be varying degrees of badass or hardcore they went completely in the other direction. The characters are all varying degrees of pathetic, perverted, or idiotic resulting in humor and dialogue that the majority of japanese games lack. The fact that it has multiple paths and endings is just the icing on the cake.

So what games do you feel are noteworthy for things you feel mainstream gamers/media wouldn't appreciate?

This post has been edited by Sliver: 27 February 2008 - 06:20 PM

[Blueskirt]

I suppose it's a matter of who you hang around with, because with all those Halo fans, the millions of people who loves the Final Fantasy series while it's nothing but pretty stories bundled with a 20 years old gameplay, or that handful of thesis I've read, claiming Portal's the greatest game in the universe and only talk about the story without slipping a word about the genius gameplay, I get the impression everyone's nowaday is obsessed about stories and completly ignore the gameplay aspect of games.

Not that there's anything wrong with creating games to tell stories, what I have a problem with is this general "Let's whip up games like Hollywood's whipping up sitcoms" turn games are taking, where I play the same old games, only the characters, story and graphics are changed. By all mean, do tell stories, but don't neglect the gameplay aspect too. But I don't know, maybe I've just seen too much game design articles discussing narration and character development for the amount of articles that discussed new gameplay ideas.

[Sliver]

I identify with the adventure game crowd, so story and characters can go a long way to endear to me what would otherwise be a crappy game. Also, Halo and FF do not have what I would consider pretty stories, and think that's where a lot of the problem lies. The HL series and Portal are where I would set the bar for "good" in the story department, and 99.9% of games don't even get there. Which is probably why you see so many articles focusing on game-play and story.

[Blueskirt]

I identify with the adventure game crowd

So do I, which might also explain why I am so tired of pretty stories bundled in stale gameplay.

Which is probably why you see so many articles focusing on game-play and story.

I don't see much articles focusing on gameplay compared to the amount of articles focusing on stories.

[Sliver]

So do I, which might also explain why I am so tired of pretty stories bundled in stale gameplay.

"pretty" stories, or "good" stories?

I don't see much articles focusing on gameplay compared to the amount of articles focusing on stories.

That's what I meant. I got the words crossed over when I was writing the sentence.

[deALPHAmale]

Personally I really like the ability in a game to literally do whatever I want at any given time. It's bloody fantastic (and by bloody, I most literally mean bloody, as I usually take to causing as much suffering as I possibly can). Oblivion stood out to me because, with the right skills, I never cease to being entertained by being able to buy any information I want out of any character in the game, then turn right around and pickpocket all my gold right back... then stab them with something pointy (and I don't mean that sexually... usually...)

Another standout to me was the game Second Sight. True, everything about it was mediocre at best, including the story, however I thought it was rather enjoyable. Ask me why, and I really can't tell you, but it was. Somehow. Even though bizarre Russian experiments in the paranormal have been recycled throughout B movies countless times, it's simply a plot that has never ceased to interest me, and the twist at the end was good enough to give me a grin.

Past that I might mention the Eye of Judgment, which is probably the only trading card game I've ever enjoyed, it actually incorporated decent bits of strategy (OH SWEET JESUS! YOU HAVE TO THINK TO PLAY THIS GAME... sort of) and it was just cool to watch your monsters kill each other when you put them on the game board.

Also there was Resistance: Fall of Man, just for being what Halo 3 had wished to be... a crazed party shooter with no true value except the amusement of running around in a weird sci-fi setting with guns that can do all sorts of spiffy things. Except, unlike Halo 3, the guns in Resistance actually CAN do spiffy things. It's incredibly hard to take seriously, and also incredibly hard to put down, but ONLY in a game where everyone has the same goal of jocularity, if not, then it can be just as bad as listening to small children whine about who is better at throwing plasma grenades or who can do the fanciest weapon glitch. I hate that.

[AdamM]

...but apart from the gameplay...?

[Game Over]

Been addicted lately to this game called 'Kane and Lynch'.

Ever since Jeff Gaste..ma..mann...fat ass made his review with the introduction "this game is a really really ugly game", brainwashed gamers pushed this great game on to the cliff. Unfortunately, Jeff was fired and fans bulldozed the game down the ravine.

The game play isn't a lot, but this thing deserved an Oscar for its cinematic and dialog and its character design.

[Dannysaysnoo]

Thank god, someone else who likes Kane and Lynch! I though i was the only one!

[Game Over]

Thank god, someone else who likes Kane and Lynch! I though i was the only one!

Yes. If you consider video games a "work of art" like me, then you would except that James Seth Lynch deserves to have his own portraits in a museum.

(I always ignore most gamers and their comments).

This post has been edited by Game Over: 28 February 2008 - 05:17 PM

[Sliver]

I also have to throw in Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross (which were damned good games in their own right) for having the best damned soundtracks of any game, ever. It's bloody rare for a game to have good music. Music of the Chrono franchises caliber can be counted on one finger.

[Uszi]

I would say that game play IS still important to gamers, they just take good smooth game play for granted. When game play is unintuitive it can make a game less fun to play.

Like right now I just finished 5 days and 7 days, and I started on Trilby's Notes... And the game play seems a HUGE step backward for me, personally. I don't like not having a mouse, or having clicking commands to do things. I had to learn a whole new game play style for it, and it has been very tempting for me to shelf this game and hope that the last one in the serious goes back to the classic style.

[Sliver]

Gameplay? Important? Well pull out my crayons and color me surprised! Thank you for sharing that earth-shattering and profound insight! do you have any other sage-like wisdom you'd like to purvey or can we continue discussing the topic this thread was actually intended for? Which is games that were good despite their gameplay, and not because of it.

[Dr Lecter]

I;m tould that enchanged arms is sweet dispite the gameplays stucks more than a wahore with a svaccuam in hera jacksee.

[Uszi]

Gameplay? Important? Well pull out my crayons and color me surprised! Thank you for sharing that earth-shattering and profound insight! do you have any other sage-like wisdom you'd like to purvey or can we continue discussing the topic this thread was actually intended for? Which is games that were good despite their gameplay, and not because of it.

Hey now, there's a continuum of game play issues. A lot of games enjoy quite a bit of success, even though your character moves around in a clunky fashion or the interface is terrible. While game play from hell would inevitably cripple your game, you could have less game play and still produce something good. I want to say KotOR, but here you'd have to substitute your own example fitting your definition of a good game, that has game play issues fitting your definition of poor.

Oh, and thanks for your thoughts. I want to return your invitation to "Fuck off," with my own, so I'll combine: "Fuck you," and, "Right back at you" into:

"Fuck you back at you."

Good day.