The Key to My Heart
So far, I've spent this blog relating stuff that basically makes me feel crappy. Today, I'm going to mix it up a little and talk about something that makes me feel good. This post shall be about my favorite pastime, my one true passion, and--in my opinion--the most powerful expressive medium humanity has yet devised.
I speak, of course, of Video Games.
Despite Andrew's misgivings, I have decided to use the tried-and-true format of a Top 5 List, counting down from #5. So here we have:
David's All Time Top Five Video Game Picks
5) Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
SotN is simply an excellent game. It represents the pinnacle of both the "side-scroller" genre and the Castlevania series. It smoothly mixes the intense combat of an action game with the strategic character development of a role-playing game while presenting a multitude of unique opponents and resources that can be pitted against each other in infinitely entertaining ways. The game does have its flaws, but these are mostly cosmetic. The story is fairly standard, despite an interesting twist and multiple endings, but the dialogue and especially the voice acting are simply atrocious. Fortunately, the plot scenes in the game are few and far between, and once you've beaten the game, you never have to sit through them again. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow could be considered a better game in this regard, since it actually has an excellent story, but because of the more limited graphics engine and the fact that AoS's gameplay was heavily modeled after SotN, I ultimately consider the latter game the better.
4) Half-Life
Just as C:SotN represents the pinnacle of the side-scroller genre, Half-Life represents the pinnacle of the first-person-shooter genre. It was the first of its kind to feature a plot which could be considered more than "cursory" and it was the first of its kind to feature character interactions more complex than "kill every monster you see." There were, for example, people who would help you out, as well as computer opponents who fought against each other. Few FPS games have produced more satisfying encounters than witnessing a contingent of marines bust into a warehouse crawling with aliens, followed by a firefight which you may simply watch play out. Furthermore, Half-Life had perhaps the finest selection of weapons in a FPS, and this is a virtue that cannot be underestimated in this type of game. Every weapon in the game was useful in some way (except for the stupid beetles) as every weapon had its distinct advantages and disadvantages. Now I'll admit the possibility that better FPS games have been made since the original Half-Life, but if so they were only made in emulation of Half-Life. And there certainly were no better FPS games made before Half-Life.
3) Civilization
I want to stipulate right off the bat that this rank goes to the Civilization series itself, rather than any particular game in the series. This is because I consider each game to be an improved version of the same concept. While Civilization II certainly improved upon its predecessor in many ways, I don't feel that this in any way diminishes the greatness of the original. Likewise, the improvements of Civ4 do not make Civ2 any less of a great game (I didn't play enough of Civ3 to make any judgments of it.) What makes Civilization so great is that it takes a relatively simple idea--you are the ruler of your own nation--and combines it with such a refined execution to provide an open-ended experience within a manageable framework. In other words, there are just a few definitive goals, but an infinite variety of ways to achieve them. Plus you can take over the entire world. You just can't beat that.
2) Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
San Andreas is great for much the same reason that Civilization is great; it provides an open-ended experience within a manageable framework. What makes San Andreas surpass Civilization, however, is the inclusion of a compelling storyline and more spectacular gameplay. I mean, sure, it's one kind of epic to send an army of tanks to attack infantry defending a city, but it's a considerably more intense experience to actually be the guy those tanks are coming after. Plus, in Civilization, you can't steal a jumbo jet, compete in a triathlon, or clear a traffic jam with a minigun; in San Andreas, you can.
1) Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fantasy Tactics is simply my favorite game of all time, for two reasons. Firstly, the game features a depth and variety of play that I have not seen matched in any game before or since. Secondly, the game features a powerful, epic story that I have not seen matched in ANY medium. Additionally, Ramza Beoulve is the only video game hero I know of with the strength of character to walk into a seedy tavern and order a glass of milk. For that, man, I salute you. Now, granted, the game has its flaws: there's no way to avoid or flee random battles, combat is often drawn-out and frustrating, and much of the dialogue is poorly translated. But the game's virtues far outweigh its flaws. If you have never played through this game, then I daresay you lack the commitment to call yourself a true video game fan.
So that's it, there are my Top 5 Video Game Picks. These are my personal favorites; I don't expect anyone else's list to match mine, but still I think there are a few general conclusions we can draw from this list:
1) Video games based on sports are stupid.
2) Miniguns rule.
3) If you don't like FFT then you don't like video games.
That's it for me. Feel free to post your own Top 5 in the comments (or your "top-tier" list, if that's more your thing. Andrew.) Next time will be more depressing stuff, I promise. Until then, warm sandwiches and cool sheets.
I speak, of course, of Video Games.
Despite Andrew's misgivings, I have decided to use the tried-and-true format of a Top 5 List, counting down from #5. So here we have:
David's All Time Top Five Video Game Picks
5) Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
SotN is simply an excellent game. It represents the pinnacle of both the "side-scroller" genre and the Castlevania series. It smoothly mixes the intense combat of an action game with the strategic character development of a role-playing game while presenting a multitude of unique opponents and resources that can be pitted against each other in infinitely entertaining ways. The game does have its flaws, but these are mostly cosmetic. The story is fairly standard, despite an interesting twist and multiple endings, but the dialogue and especially the voice acting are simply atrocious. Fortunately, the plot scenes in the game are few and far between, and once you've beaten the game, you never have to sit through them again. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow could be considered a better game in this regard, since it actually has an excellent story, but because of the more limited graphics engine and the fact that AoS's gameplay was heavily modeled after SotN, I ultimately consider the latter game the better.
4) Half-Life
Just as C:SotN represents the pinnacle of the side-scroller genre, Half-Life represents the pinnacle of the first-person-shooter genre. It was the first of its kind to feature a plot which could be considered more than "cursory" and it was the first of its kind to feature character interactions more complex than "kill every monster you see." There were, for example, people who would help you out, as well as computer opponents who fought against each other. Few FPS games have produced more satisfying encounters than witnessing a contingent of marines bust into a warehouse crawling with aliens, followed by a firefight which you may simply watch play out. Furthermore, Half-Life had perhaps the finest selection of weapons in a FPS, and this is a virtue that cannot be underestimated in this type of game. Every weapon in the game was useful in some way (except for the stupid beetles) as every weapon had its distinct advantages and disadvantages. Now I'll admit the possibility that better FPS games have been made since the original Half-Life, but if so they were only made in emulation of Half-Life. And there certainly were no better FPS games made before Half-Life.
3) Civilization
I want to stipulate right off the bat that this rank goes to the Civilization series itself, rather than any particular game in the series. This is because I consider each game to be an improved version of the same concept. While Civilization II certainly improved upon its predecessor in many ways, I don't feel that this in any way diminishes the greatness of the original. Likewise, the improvements of Civ4 do not make Civ2 any less of a great game (I didn't play enough of Civ3 to make any judgments of it.) What makes Civilization so great is that it takes a relatively simple idea--you are the ruler of your own nation--and combines it with such a refined execution to provide an open-ended experience within a manageable framework. In other words, there are just a few definitive goals, but an infinite variety of ways to achieve them. Plus you can take over the entire world. You just can't beat that.
2) Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
San Andreas is great for much the same reason that Civilization is great; it provides an open-ended experience within a manageable framework. What makes San Andreas surpass Civilization, however, is the inclusion of a compelling storyline and more spectacular gameplay. I mean, sure, it's one kind of epic to send an army of tanks to attack infantry defending a city, but it's a considerably more intense experience to actually be the guy those tanks are coming after. Plus, in Civilization, you can't steal a jumbo jet, compete in a triathlon, or clear a traffic jam with a minigun; in San Andreas, you can.
1) Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fantasy Tactics is simply my favorite game of all time, for two reasons. Firstly, the game features a depth and variety of play that I have not seen matched in any game before or since. Secondly, the game features a powerful, epic story that I have not seen matched in ANY medium. Additionally, Ramza Beoulve is the only video game hero I know of with the strength of character to walk into a seedy tavern and order a glass of milk. For that, man, I salute you. Now, granted, the game has its flaws: there's no way to avoid or flee random battles, combat is often drawn-out and frustrating, and much of the dialogue is poorly translated. But the game's virtues far outweigh its flaws. If you have never played through this game, then I daresay you lack the commitment to call yourself a true video game fan.
So that's it, there are my Top 5 Video Game Picks. These are my personal favorites; I don't expect anyone else's list to match mine, but still I think there are a few general conclusions we can draw from this list:
1) Video games based on sports are stupid.
2) Miniguns rule.
3) If you don't like FFT then you don't like video games.
That's it for me. Feel free to post your own Top 5 in the comments (or your "top-tier" list, if that's more your thing. Andrew.) Next time will be more depressing stuff, I promise. Until then, warm sandwiches and cool sheets.
posted by David R. Nevel | 6:08 PM
8 Comments:
I've posted a similar list on my own blog before and will doubtlessly post an entirely different one again; the things I value in a game are constant but specific instances are fickly.
It's particularly hard to differentiate between the games that had the biggest impact on me (which skew heavily early, before I became so jaded and discriminating) and those which are probably the best-made games.
In no particular order, my top five games of the moment are:
* Civilization IV. II is better than I without disqualifying I's crucial work. III was worse than II. By now I feel comfortable saying that IV is better than II.
* Ultima VII. I fell in love with Ultima VI, but VII gave us more of everything. I love the open-ended (that phrase again!) world, and Ultima is one of those rare games that really challenges players along moral and spiritual axes, not only twitch and intellect.
* Final Fantasy X. I loved VI, VII and Tactics; X is the one I've played most recently which puts it over the top.
* King's Quest III. The sum impact of the Sierra games are overwhelming, even though no individual game should probably be on the list. I'm giving KQIII the nod for now due to its unique blend of mystery, drama, humor, and tension. I remember sweating as I snuck around the wizard's house, desperate to finish up and feeling my heart pound as I hoped that he wouldn't appear in a puff of smoke. Also, this was the Sierra game closest to Peasant's Quest, in my opinion. Close runners up are Hero Quest, Quest for Glory II, and King's Quest IV.
* Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. For the same reasons David says. I've enjoyed GTA3 and GTA:VC, but San Andreas blows them all away with gameplay, and seems to make them irrelevant by adding one of the most engrossing stories I've encountered.
On another note, I enjoyed the dis to Megacorp in the site's banner. Is that a new addition?
The MegaCorp quip has been there the whole time.
My eyesight must be going.
For the record: I wrote my list before I saw Justin's. I think the three of us hang out too much; out of the tens of thousands of games out there, this much overlap is simply unnatural.
Ok David, I believe I will extoll the tiered system of video game ranking. Jerk.
I was trying to list my favorite games last night, inspired as I was by a ROM of Earthbound and the sugar in my system from a bag of Jelly Bellies. Given my adoration of those in question, I hated to name certain games as better than others, and I felt it was somewhat messy that my list of favorites was not five, but seven games long. Well, the tiered system solved my concern. Solved it HARD. Here's the idea: certain games, those which are your favorites, all inhabit the topmost platform of your affections. Others inhabit lower tiers, grouped with games about which you feel similarly.
The problem with the popular "top-5" or "top-10" or "top-n" style ranking is dual. First, it creates too strict a hierarchy. Secondly, it creates an unfair cutoff point.
The reason different people enjoy different games more or less than others is obvious. It is because of subjectivity. It is because there are far more factors that go into a game than can be fairly judged across a wide swath of the populus, factors that may in fact be more or less important to certain people. But if we were to ignore the pitfalls of subjective terminology for a moment, we could come up with the word "fun". A game is considered as your favorite when it causes you to have the most fun. Of course this is an oversimplification, but it is also mostly true.
And here is where we first see the tiered system as being superior to the top-n system, as it allows for a more flexible heirarchy of games. The top-n system lists games in descending order, by how much fun they were for this player, eliminating the possibility of conditionals or grey areas. A tiered system, however, recognizes the subjectivity of games, and the fact that some games may be fun for different reasons. I personally think that it is unfair to place a racing game, for example, below a 3D platformer, if when in certain moods you would rather play the racer. Your top-n system has forced you to rate the one as lower, despite much more complex circumstances. By contrast, a top tier would not require games to be flat-out better than each other.
Top-n hierarchies are well known because they are often used in magazines, polls, and also everywhere. Why is this? Well, they are pleasantly simple (I am not saying that you are a simple person, David, I will leave that for you to admit).They are entertaining, because they appeal to our sense of competition, and give us points of contention and discussion in the arena of video games. They are also recognizable, and thus they sell well. However an unfortunate aspect of this simplicity and ease of use is the unfair truncation of the list, that is to say, the arbitrary cut-off which occurs right before the game ranked n+1, which may in fact be an excellent game. Out of curiosity, David, what is your sixth favorite game or series? Do you own a copy? In a tiered system, there is no abandonment of top-level contenders, as there is no number 'n', but instead a set such that N={kick ass games}.
On the internet one is not limited by physical dimensions such as on the page of a magazine, or by time constraints like in a broadcast. It is much easier, online, to ramble on for as long as one wants about anything and everything (right, Blogosphere?). The provider of quality content would want to enlighten his or her auidence on every game classy enough to deserve mention.
The Tiered classification is an emminently fair system. Like the US Senate, some members of the top tier may have been favorites for longer, some may be stronger in certain areas, and some may represent Idaho, but none are placed above their peers. Below those top games, which you could call Zero Tier if you were interested in sounding like a tacky arcade game from the early nineties, would be Tier One.
There are a few requirements, in my mind, for a game to inhabit the upper crust. I need to have replayed the game many times, and not just because of multiple endings or bonus material. This is not "replayability", this is love for the content, like the way you know the all the words to "Genie In A Bottle" (I'm looking at you, David). Another requirement is simply that I would hate to never play the game in question ever again. I would feel bad if all the copies of Xenogears or Mario Kart were somehow destroyed, but then I would forget after a while. And the best indicator that a game is top tier material is when I can spend hours playing with the game (important distinction), inventing little diversions not intended by the producers (see Zelda below).
I feel obligated, now, to share and review my Zero Tier. No I don't, I'm just an egomaniac. Here we go!
Earthbound
Holy butt. This game is full of classic moments, great humor and fun secrets. It's full of innovations that still haven't been copied by other companies. The teddy bear in battle, or the bicycle (if only we could have multiple riders!), or the way they get you to name your big attack spell*. It features a Blue Brothers homage, the Runaway Five, and anyone who loves the Blue Brothers is all right in my book. Speaking of the music, it's hard to find a similar score. Earthbound heavily features funk, jazz and blues, and in the right situations, downright spooky "ambient clangs and moans" style backgrounds. Another aspect which ensures that I will never forget this game is the supurb writing. Toward the end of the game, visiting Onett and finding it overrun with flying saucers, you look around and realize exactly how far the game has taken you. In most RPGs, the characters slowly gain amazing powers and go from obscurity to being Saviors of the World. But only in Earthbound did I feel that sense of transformation. Sitting on my living room floor in front of the TV, I felt nostalgia for the simpler times of Ness' childhood. Anyone remember the strategy guide that came with the game? Scratch n' sniff cards relevant to the plot, to the extent where there was a "Master Belch" puke scented card? I loved that dang card. Harry Potter jelly beans eat your hearts out.
Zelda 3: a Link to the Past
As a child I rented this game more times than I recall, and I've played through (and hacked) the ROM even more than that. I've beaten Link to the Past more times than I've read my favorite book, which I think supports David's claim that video games are a viable intellectual art form. The one quibble I have with Z3 is the linearality. You may have the option to beat the dungeons in (almost) any order, but beyond that, there isn't much to find hidden in this game. I can remember being a kid and pretending, even after the first game in the series, there was another item screen, and writing down what sorts of items there would be. Actually, I am still convinced that Nintendo stole the shovel (I was thinking spade) and the Mirror Shield (my EXACT idea) from me by tuning in on my gradeschool recess conversations. The real strength of Zelda 3 must be in its thoughtful construction. I never get tired with the layout of Hyrule, or with fighting simple enemies, whereas some later, larger games have become boring. In fact, there is no other game which has inspired me to exhaustive interaction with its most basic denizens, as seen in Chicken Football and Teaparty. To wit:
Hit a chicken in the wide open area below the Blacksmiths' house. When chickens begin friggin swarming your ass, pick that chicken up and run! You know that being hit by an airborne chicken will hurt you, and make you drop the one in your hands, so try and hold on as long as you can! The pattern in which these little guys swarm makes it possible to watch a perimeter and estimate escape paths, but it is very hard to keep up.
To play Teaparty, go to Kariko Village, and get some guards to chase you. Once you have enough of them in your wake, either cast Ether, which will freeze them all, or hit them individually with the Ice Wand. Now they can be posed facing each other around an imaginary table! Have conversations by picking up the one who's speaking and walking around with him. If he gets mad, throw him at the other ones! Too many hits and they shatter! Don't forget to give them silly voices. And sidebar: You can have a Monster Teaparty by casting Quake before freezing your guards. This turns them into Mealy Mouth Pears. Yes, that is the name decided upon by young me. It is better than "slime" or whatever.
Final Fantasy Tactics
Well, obviously. You all know why this game rocks. Let point out, too, that the sort of animation drawn for these sprites was more complex than anything seen previously, and really belies the love the creators must have had for the look of their game. Remember Zalbag flipping that coin? Beautiful.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Again, you know my position. I spent hours getting some of those special swords. And there are like a million ways to fight the second doppelganger. My favorite feature, though, was Joseph's Coat. I would put Alucard in a pure white/banana yellow cloak, and pretend he was in a swing band.
Mega Man Legends
Capcom did something trendy by converting a 2D property to 3D, and they scored a huge hit. The writing and voice acting in this game are topped by none. And leaping around platforms as the Blue Bomber felt more like freedom than kicking fifteen Sadaams in the nuts simultaneously. The voice acting hit its crescendo (several times) when Professor Barrel screamed MEGAMAN!! in that hilarious way. And also, in MML the world finally knew that Mega Man was Canadian.
Mega Man Legends 2
These games deserve seperate entries because the second Mega Man Legends took control of the series in its own right, and did everything we didn't even realize we wanted the first to do. The gameplay was fantastic, the huge robot bosses were always fun to fight, and the dojo lady who ran the quiz game was the hottest thing this side of Tifa. Yowza.
Super Mario World
This game is big in the replayability department, and the graphics may have been some of the best of the system. In the Lost Woods, I felt confined; on Choco Island I felt hungry but also afraid of rhinos. And the cape might be the most fun item to use from any game I've played. The Star Road provided a level of challenge not seen since the NES era before it, and finishing that last part and seeing the world change made me feel like a super star.
There's my list. Good night.
*Reminds me of a Tier one or two game, Wild Arms. You can go to a spell shop and rename any of your spells. A friend of mine, somewhat hampered by space limitations, redubbed "sleep" as "snooz=lose"
I'm going to have to go along with Andrew's tiered structure idea, since that's the way I tend to think of it anyway. Most of my top-tier favorites have already been mentioned, so instead of elaborating on what you've already read, I'll talk about just one game. This game grabbed hold of my heart on the day it came out. Now, over six years later, it still will not let go.
I am talking about none other than Final Fantasy VIII. No, that's not a typo. VIII, as in 8, as in eight. Now, before you roll your eyes in bewilderment and/or disgust, hear me out. It just so happens that this game has (almost) everything I could ever want in an RPG.
For one, the graphics. Pop this game in again, and take a gander at the pre-rendered backgrounds. Does that look like 1998 to you? Among all the FF's that have pre-rendered backgrounds, 8 has the most beautiful. The lighting, the proportions, and all that artistic stuff loooks absolutely correct to my eyes. Every background image in the game seems also to lend suggestion to the love-based plot.
Speaking of the plot: Call me a sap, but I happen to like love stories. In many a previous RPG I would look forward to the inevitable love story; to base an entire game around one was the culmination of plot goodness as far as I'm concerned. Also, the whole backstory involving Laguna really kept my fancy throughout the game. Having a love story as a plot gives a REASON for all that fighting you do.
You can't have a good love story without good believeable characters... and this is perhaps the most telling reason why I like the game so much: When it first came out, I was exactly like Squall. I was 17 (Squall's age), and I was a socially inept loner who was afraid of girls. I could totally relate and was able to "play the role." Furthermore, every single character in the game actually had a consistent personality. Later on in the game, I'd read some text and then think "Oh, that is SO like Quistis..." and so on.
As for the combat system: Arguably the weakest point of the game because of its complexity, it still is possible to figure out and maximize your potential with the right junctions. The learning curve is what made it fun for me, actually.
And of course... The music! Being a musician, I have a soft spot for games that have an outstanding soundtrack, like this one. Each town had its own theme (more or less), but the really interesting thing is that the music was scored not really according to the area of the game, but the emotions and thoughts of the characters. Very, very cool in my book.
To sum it up, I like it because it's lighthearted, beautiful in looks and sounds, entertaining, and lets me live my life vicariously through the actions of made-up personalities. Score!!
I can't believe you're still reading this. Let the flames begin! Heat Shield, ACTIVATE!
Booyah! Tierists unite! We will bring down your fascist regeme, top to bottom!
The depth of Chris' review made me think about Final Fantasy games, and why none of them are in my top bracket. The simple answer would be that they're each too long to facilitate my playing them through more than twice, although that's counterintuitive given some of my other choices. Another reason is that I find it hard to choose just one of them as leagues better than the others, enough to justify just one inclusion, and I don't want to include the whole series in Zero Tier either. I didn't care for FFIX, true, and I never played FFXI. But what about VI? If I put VII in there, don't I have to include VI? Well, fine then, what about FFI? Doesn't it deserve credit as the foundation? This thinking compromises the criteria of Zero Tier as set forth above.
But the best reason not to include any of these titles is that Final Fantasy games defy my singular categorization, and as such inhabit a miscellaneous space to the side of the tiered hierarchy. I agree, Chris, that FFVIII was the best, with VII and X pulling in right behind. So why do these three games fall outside my normal purview of the best of the best in gaming? Because they are a series, in the truest sense. The FFs are all so wound around each other that I cannot justify giving them a single ranking. Whereas a normal game might have (for the sake of analogy) two judgeable vectors, the interconnectedness of the FF series causes it to have third dimensionality. It is a cube, so to speak, in a world of squares (ignore the irony). This does not mean automatically better... it just involves a new level of complexity, an axis along which the other factors may gain depth. When I consider the annoying characters in IX, it brings down my appriciation for the entire set. When I look at how X worked upon the AT battle system and added some features, my regard for the principle as a whole rises. For this reason, I cannot fit any of these games into Zero Tier, or any other tier. They must be classified as outside the tiers... along with Dance Dance Revolution (which I could hardly include in a categorization of video games, yet deserves recognition as a pasttime I would hate to be without) and other physical-skill based novelty games.
Why are Final Fantasy games a series, when Mega Man Legends aren't? It's more than a simple comonality. The chocobos, the spell names and the little traditions too numerous to list are important, yes. They contribute to the feeling that these games belong together. But there is a more important feeling, an emotion in the games. Though the characters are always different, the themes enacted in the plot and the style of storytelling lend a nostalgia to each experience, a way of connecting with the creative teams that craft each Final Fantasy out of love for the series. Simply put, the Final Fantasys have achieved a level of unity through their power and popularity that I have not seen in other games.
PHeW. Um... I guess you can have your blog back now, David.
Thanks. Now you're all fired. I'm switching over so that only members can comment now.
Actually, that last part is a lie. But you are all fired.
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