My feline video game buddy, Niki, passed away on Thursday, February 8. I haven't gotten around to writing about her but I will do so when I start feeling better. I miss her terribly.
Since she's always sitting next to me while playing video games (I would say Niki is a true gamer!), I've been thinking about what kinds of games we've played together, and why these games appealed to us since we write reviews of games from time to time (Niki is my fictional guest writer N.C., Esq).
I wrote this piece about what you should look for in video game critics, and the one criterion is whether you have the same taste as the critic, so I think my readers should know what games I tend to like.
Looking through my top 10 games, I tend to like games that have extensive leveling up system where you can min/max stats. I find it refreshing when I'm struggling at the beginning of the game, due to low levels, weak armor and weapons, and then becoming overpowered. This explains why RPGs tend to be my favorite genre because of the challenge of leveling up and continual improvement.
This is not to say that other genres don't feature improvement and mastery, far from it. FPS and Platformer games are extremely challenging, and you can improve steadily through practice, such as being able to kill enemies faster, using less resources (i.e. making only headshots).
Since I'm a relatively new gamer, I appreciate being able to level up my character so I can face a difficult part of the game and succeed. If I keep failing, I can always improve my levels, weapons and/or armors to win. Whereas with shooters and platformers, you simply fail if you can't shoot your way out or make that jump. You can't just level up your character and grind your way through, you either have to make those shots or jumps, or fail.
Gameplay also is very crucial so a lot of games that I love have complex and deep combat mechanics. Even though the Dark Souls series doesn't have the complex button sequences of action-adventure games such as Bayonetta and God Of War, you have to be good at understanding the attack patterns, knowing when to dodge and attack, you can't just button mash.
What elevates an RPG above the rest is the level design, because even though you may have really incredible combat mechanics, if you have a level design where you're just going straight from point A to point B, it gets very boring.
I love games that have an overworld that's like a puzzle such as the Souls series, and dungeons with puzzles such as Legend of Zelda and Wild Arms 3. I was so impressed with Wild Arms 3 because of the strategy needed in it's turn-based mechanics, but also because of the dungeons having sophisticated level design where you have to use various gadgets and manipulate the environment to get around, much like Zelda pre-Breath of the Wild.
In addition to level design, variety of enemies and different attack patterns are a must. Even though Tales of Berseria has a wide variety of monsters, the way they attack didn't affect gameplay as much. You have to dodge from time to time, but the gameplay revolved around building up combinations.
I found that building up combinations was addictive and fun, especially the rush of power and feel of Velvet's Consuming Claw. Albeit, the bosses in Berseria all have very different attack patterns. So Berseria was the one game where attack patterns aren't so important, but nevertheless the game is one of my favorites.
I think story and character development are also crucial. The game doesn't have to be a Thomas Mann-level of masterpiece, but at least have some story and psychology into the character. Tales of Berseria is one of my favorite games because of the story and focus on characters, to the point where you're interested in what's going on with every single party member, and you seek out their story lines in form of quests.
Ori and the Blind Forest is one of the few platform games that I love because of the story and characters. Ori's platforming is pinpoint precise and fun due to its challenging nature, but such is the case with so many other platformers. Why I love it and not care about all the other great platformers is the presentation, story and characters in Ori that are lacking in Mario and the Rayman series.
Here's a list of my favorite games in alphabetical order: Chrono Trigger, Eternal Sonata, Final Fantasy VII, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Kingdom Hearts series, Persona franchise, Monster Hunter franchise, SoulsBorne series (duh!), Tales of Berseria, and Wild Arms 3.
Games rounding the top 10 in alphabetical order are: Fortnite, Gravity Rush series, Ori and the Blind Forest, Valkyria Chronicles Remastered, Xenoblade Chronicles X, and Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana.
TL/DR: My favorite games tend to be ones that have a great story and characters, deep gameplay mechanics (such as Dark Souls and the Monster Hunter series), strong leveling system where you can build your characters, weapons and armor, and complex, puzzle-like level designs.
What features do your favorite games have?
The How of Happiness Review
Since she's always sitting next to me while playing video games (I would say Niki is a true gamer!), I've been thinking about what kinds of games we've played together, and why these games appealed to us since we write reviews of games from time to time (Niki is my fictional guest writer N.C., Esq).
I wrote this piece about what you should look for in video game critics, and the one criterion is whether you have the same taste as the critic, so I think my readers should know what games I tend to like.
Looking through my top 10 games, I tend to like games that have extensive leveling up system where you can min/max stats. I find it refreshing when I'm struggling at the beginning of the game, due to low levels, weak armor and weapons, and then becoming overpowered. This explains why RPGs tend to be my favorite genre because of the challenge of leveling up and continual improvement.
This is not to say that other genres don't feature improvement and mastery, far from it. FPS and Platformer games are extremely challenging, and you can improve steadily through practice, such as being able to kill enemies faster, using less resources (i.e. making only headshots).
Since I'm a relatively new gamer, I appreciate being able to level up my character so I can face a difficult part of the game and succeed. If I keep failing, I can always improve my levels, weapons and/or armors to win. Whereas with shooters and platformers, you simply fail if you can't shoot your way out or make that jump. You can't just level up your character and grind your way through, you either have to make those shots or jumps, or fail.
Gameplay also is very crucial so a lot of games that I love have complex and deep combat mechanics. Even though the Dark Souls series doesn't have the complex button sequences of action-adventure games such as Bayonetta and God Of War, you have to be good at understanding the attack patterns, knowing when to dodge and attack, you can't just button mash.
What elevates an RPG above the rest is the level design, because even though you may have really incredible combat mechanics, if you have a level design where you're just going straight from point A to point B, it gets very boring.
I love games that have an overworld that's like a puzzle such as the Souls series, and dungeons with puzzles such as Legend of Zelda and Wild Arms 3. I was so impressed with Wild Arms 3 because of the strategy needed in it's turn-based mechanics, but also because of the dungeons having sophisticated level design where you have to use various gadgets and manipulate the environment to get around, much like Zelda pre-Breath of the Wild.
In addition to level design, variety of enemies and different attack patterns are a must. Even though Tales of Berseria has a wide variety of monsters, the way they attack didn't affect gameplay as much. You have to dodge from time to time, but the gameplay revolved around building up combinations.
I found that building up combinations was addictive and fun, especially the rush of power and feel of Velvet's Consuming Claw. Albeit, the bosses in Berseria all have very different attack patterns. So Berseria was the one game where attack patterns aren't so important, but nevertheless the game is one of my favorites.
I think story and character development are also crucial. The game doesn't have to be a Thomas Mann-level of masterpiece, but at least have some story and psychology into the character. Tales of Berseria is one of my favorite games because of the story and focus on characters, to the point where you're interested in what's going on with every single party member, and you seek out their story lines in form of quests.
Ori and the Blind Forest is one of the few platform games that I love because of the story and characters. Ori's platforming is pinpoint precise and fun due to its challenging nature, but such is the case with so many other platformers. Why I love it and not care about all the other great platformers is the presentation, story and characters in Ori that are lacking in Mario and the Rayman series.
Here's a list of my favorite games in alphabetical order: Chrono Trigger, Eternal Sonata, Final Fantasy VII, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Kingdom Hearts series, Persona franchise, Monster Hunter franchise, SoulsBorne series (duh!), Tales of Berseria, and Wild Arms 3.
Games rounding the top 10 in alphabetical order are: Fortnite, Gravity Rush series, Ori and the Blind Forest, Valkyria Chronicles Remastered, Xenoblade Chronicles X, and Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana.
TL/DR: My favorite games tend to be ones that have a great story and characters, deep gameplay mechanics (such as Dark Souls and the Monster Hunter series), strong leveling system where you can build your characters, weapons and armor, and complex, puzzle-like level designs.
What features do your favorite games have?
The How of Happiness Review
For myself, the greatest games are quite the opposite, it annoys me when I simply can't progress because I don't have enough levels to proceed, and would argue levels and experience mechanics play too large a part in Fortnite, Warfrane, Borderlands, NieR: Automata, etc. I would rather the game challenge your skills and patience rather than the amount of time you spend killing a mob over and over. Grinding RPG's are fun too, however the two don't mix particularly well, it doesn't feel satisfyi to me to outlevel a boss, as it does to outplay and git gud. I can forgive some games of this, Dark Souls for example you don't *just* hit a wall, where you statcheck the boss and if you pass well I guess you pass, you can still succeed without that grind. One of the biggest turn offs for most MMO's as of late, is the abundance of bosses that just hit you with an attack you can't dodge, and if you can't sustain or tank that damage you die. Whilst this does invoke teamplay, it doesn't really abide by me particularly well, and would prefer things done differently.
ReplyDeleteAbove everything, as a games developer however, I want to see something new. I want new takes on a story, I want new brave design decisions, I want games to risk failing because I've seen so much of he safety net that it bores me. I want games to kill their protagonist, I want games to rebuild systems, I want games I haven't played before,even if I can still appreciate familiar experiences.
Going by yours Alice, you should look into Alice: Madness Returns. American McGee's take on the Alice in Wonderland story, and a great game about they psychology of a truly evil man and his victim.
Can't really give a comprehensive top 10, played too many games for that, I'd miss something out. But in no particular order: To The Moon, Undertale, NieR: Automata, Alice: Madness Returns, Half Life 2, Borderlands 2, Magic: The Gathering, This War of Mine, Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, Ori and the blind Forest. There are games missing from this list, but thats for lack of space, not bad games.
I totally agree, bad game design is where you must be a certain level to progress, whereas the RPGs that I love, as long as you go through the game, you're the correct level for the bosses, so you don't have to grind. However, I like how you can chose to grind if you want.
DeleteDark Souls offers the most freedom b/c you have to level up manually, rather than being automatic, so you can go through the game at starting level.
In other words, I see where you're coming from which is balance, and yes, my pet peeves are 1hko attacks that you can't possibly dodge, forcing the player to build up defense by grinding.
I think you'd love Monster Hunter b/c it's based on skills (if you can get past killing monsters that don't even threaten you), and there's a point where you can't level up your armor/weapon any further, so you have to beat the monster or you can't progress, but with practice, you can beat the boss!
I think it's hard to revolutionize gaming systems, I don't even know what it would look like. I know there are games where you get bad endings like Heavy Rain, but there aren't many.
I should definitely look into Alice: Madness Returns, and so happy to hear your love for Ori too! Would you add League of Legends to your list?
It's less of a problem in my eyes when games keep you suitably leveled throughout the game and you rarely notice it, NieR: Automata for example give you ample chances for character progression, don't completely ignore sidemissions and you don't ever hit that point, however I would also argue that it doesn't really add anything to the game for me specifically. Because the enemies get stronger, but you also get stronger, it about evens itself out. The only times you notice it, are when the enemies are out of sync for your level, either low level enemies not even scratching you, or high level enemies one-shotting you with a flick of their wrist. Of course, this is more of a personal grudge with some games, not everyone wants the same out of a game and that's ok. It's not really an objective issue, a mistake, more just personal taste. Whilst I'd prefer games to sac experience bars and what have you in majority of games they're included in, there are arguments against it, such as people like yourself who don't strive to be the number 1 player in a game, but still want to play and enjoy it.
DeleteIt's less of a one shotting attacks issue, and more of "If you don't have this level gear, you won't beat the boss before he enrages and wipes the party." the only way to beat it is to leave, farm for a few hours and come back with better equipment and a few levels under your belt. If you farm too much though, get too good gear, you might find the boss a cakewalk. You overlevel it and the OP attack you're supposed to dodge else you get overrun? Some of the bosses mechanics like say avoiding hitting it during a counter, all of that goes out the window because you don't need to respect it, you just statcheck it out the door.
Yeah, it's funny with Monster Hunter. I love the combat, I love the designs, I love the weapons movesets, I love a lot of things about the game. Sadly though I just find it difficult to suspend disbelief with it, which kinda kills the experience for me.
I could add hundreds of games to this list, notice Dark Souls was also missing. Not because it's bad, but just because I've played so many great games it's hard to pick just ten of them out without leaving others behind. League of Legends is definitely up there, Terraria too, Souls, Fire Emblem, didn't mention Smash Bro's either, Zelda, Hearthstone and Overwatch, Castlevania or Brawlhalla or any of the Final Fantasies, this list could go on and on and on, there's still titles missing.
Alice: Madness Returns is amazing, PS3 game IIRC, Xbox 360 and Steam. May be PS2, but I don't think so. Original American McGee's Alice was also good but not as good. Aged quite a bit, and wasn't really all that great for it's time, unlike its sequel. Cheers EA for canning the series btw, definitely still not salty about it years and years later.
I think the 1hko makes sense if you're using starting gear and fighting against the final boss, but there are issues when, you're using the best equipment and you still get 1hko from a boss. I'm thinking about this in relation to Monster Hunter World's Elder Dragons who all have 1hko moves even if your defense is at the possible highest, around 450.
DeleteIn terms of pure combat gameplay mechanics, Monster Hunter series has been the best I've played, even more so than Dark Souls, b/c of the intricacies and depth of each weapon. I still can't say I mastered the hammer or charge blade despite playing 100 hours each!
but yes, if you can't suspend your belief, it's a hard series to get into!