What are your favorite games?

[Enoch]

I always hate this question. It's a battle between reality and nostalgia to me. I could tell you "Xenogears is my favorite game of all time," but is it really? Could I actually play through it again? What effect does the passage of time have on the status as "favorite?" Should a game I've played so many times I can't play it again be on the list? Should a game that was my favorite at the time, but has failed to pass the test of time be on the list? What about a game I've played recently, but has yet to even meet the challenge of time? How can I objectively figure out the difference between the three?

 

How many games am I tempted to put forth simply because I enjoyed and lots of others claim to be their favorite? Did I really enjoy Bloodlines that much, even though it was over a year before I got a complete playthrough? Do I even remember finding Planescape: Torment that charming?

Talk about over-analysing. Just name the game that's been the most fun for you. Why would it have to be replayable now? What influence does that have on the experience it was?

You two are trying to answer two different questions. Neither approach is wrong, but I do find reading a person's struggling with a game (or a text, film, whatever) on a critical level ("critical" meaning like a serious art/film/literature/etc. critic or scholar would) more interesting than I do a simple report that "it was fun to me."

[Hurlshort]

We should make a "games I go back to every few years or wish I could" List.

 

On it I would have:

 

1. Xcom

2. JA2

3. Baldur's Gate

4. Fallout

5. Oregon Trail

[entrerix]

my "go back every year or two" games are as follows:

 

1. Fallout 1-2

2. Deus Ex

3. Final Fantasy 6-9

4. diablo 2

5. planescape torment

6. zelda ocarina of time

7. metal gear solid 1-3

Edited November 16, 2010 by entrerix

[Humodour]

This thread is funny because it's like two parts of my mind arguing with eachother "dude, just list the games you enjoyed" then "But I enjoyed certain games for certain reasons and to list Red Faction or Morrowind alongside Planescape: Torment would almost be a crime! I need a list for unoriginal but immersive/atmospheric games, a list for artistic greats, a list for RPGs, a list for shooters..." response "whatever, you're over-analysing but do what you want"

[Tale]

Talk about over-analysing. Just name the game that's been the most fun for you. Why would it have to be replayable now? What influence does that have on the experience it was?

Because it's impossible to honestly evaluate how an experience was. Memory formation and access simply does not work that way. The concept of "the game that's been the most fun for you" is simply stupid. The personal quantifiers of fun are the most affected by time and changing contexts. Really, how do you judge which of two games was more fun than the other when your recollections of both are equally vague?

 

Replay serves several purposes. It gives a meaningful context to the discussion. Does it hold up enough to play today and recommend to others? It gives a verification. If I play it now, will those feelings I recall be reconfirmed?

Edited November 17, 2010 by Tale

[mkreku]

Talk about over-analysing. Just name the game that's been the most fun for you. Why would it have to be replayable now? What influence does that have on the experience it was?

Because it's impossible to honestly evaluate how an experience was. Memory formation and access simply does not work that way. The concept of "the game that's been the most fun for you" is simply stupid. The personal quantifiers of fun are the most affected by time and changing contexts. Really, how do you judge which of two games was more fun than the other when your recollections of both are equally vague?

Huh. I guess "over-analysing" is your middle name. If you can't get your brain to determine which game you've played that you've enjoyed the most, I'm not sure you're in any position to call me stupid. And of course memory is dynamic and changes over time, but that does not matter as giving a 100% accurate description of the game is not the point. Of the hundreds of games you've played, only a few have left any impression whatsoever. Who cares if the memory of those impressions have changed, they still left a lasting impression. 95 of those 100 games just disappeared.

 

Replay serves several purposes. It gives a meaningful context to the discussion. Does it hold up enough to play today and recommend to others? It gives a verification. If I play it now, will those feelings I recall be reconfirmed?

It serves no other purpose than to tell you that your expectations have changed. It's (generally) impossible to play a game from the eighties today. Replay them now and they will feel like crap. That does not mean all games of the eighties were crap. Two great examples: Wasteland (1987) and Pool of Radiance (1988). At the time, they were both fantastic games. Now? You can barely tell you're playing a human in Wasteland and most people would never find their way out of New Phlan (starting city) in Pool of Radiance. I recommended them to everyone I met in the eighties, I would not recommend them to anyone today.

[RPGmasterBoo]

This looks interesting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHzHoMT5eRg...feature=related

 

I don't know how interesting the same "flavor" will be the third time around, but the game certainly looks good. It looks like a combination of the first two games, the boy from Ico and a Colossi from SotC.

 

One of the reasons I liked Shadow of the Colossus so much was probably not intended by the designers. For me it was a perfect epic fantasy experience - because of its minimalism. There's jut the hero, his sword, bow and a horse. All the riding through the game's huge and well designed world evoked epic fantasy Heavy Metal comics from my childhood. I had to kinda squint a bit not to see the anime characters, but since there is a total of 2 of them that wasn't really hard.

 

I never finished Ico. It looked too old by the time I got around to it, and the whole setup struck me as a bit too sentimental.

[Amentep]

Replay serves several purposes. It gives a meaningful context to the discussion. Does it hold up enough to play today and recommend to others? It gives a verification. If I play it now, will those feelings I recall be reconfirmed?

It serves no other purpose than to tell you that your expectations have changed. It's (generally) impossible to play a game from the eighties today. Replay them now and they will feel like crap. That does not mean all games of the eighties were crap. Two great examples: Wasteland (1987) and Pool of Radiance (1988). At the time, they were both fantastic games. Now? You can barely tell you're playing a human in Wasteland and most people would never find their way out of New Phlan (starting city) in Pool of Radiance. I recommended them to everyone I met in the eighties, I would not recommend them to anyone today.

 

I think anyone who never played the games of that time period would probably balk at the IE games, to be honest, much less earlier games. But I agree that it doesn't mean the games weren't good; just the expectations in games now is so vastly different.