Posted on 09/09/2013 at 12:30 PM
| Filed Under Blogs
How is something that influences so many future games not important? I'm honestly baffled by that. I think you're being kind of a hypocrite for acknowledging Kotor's importance even though there were WRPGs before it but saying Gears doesn't matter because a game introduced cover before. It put cover on the map, which like it or hate it makes it important.
You really come off as just trying to discredit Gears for aesthetic reasons, you say Uncharted added verticality, but did any game take it up on this? No. They were like Mass Effect adding RPG elements and squad mechanics, Deus Ex HR adding stealth and RPG elements, Vanquish turning the whole genre on it's head, but they all did so because Gears started the cover fad. Any game that affects so many future games is important regardless of quality or artistic merit which you're so hung up on. The idea that Gears of War is not an important game is just plain ridiculous no matter how much you act like the characters, world, and style suck. It still changed everything and shaped this entire console generation.
What you said on KH isn't even true either as Marvel vs Capcom/X-Men vs Street Fighter did that same thing years before and was popular enough to be a hit. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if Square got the idea from Capcom. The industry would be a little different but not that different if KH never existed. PS2 might have a slightly smaller fanbase or Square might have gone in a slightly different direction. But like I said before if a game is fresh but doesn't affect gaming in the slightest, it hasn't made any impact. And if everything's the same whether or not a game exists, how can that game be important?
What you're thinking of is not important, it is essential. You are thinking of games which developers need perspective on to play in order to fully understand the industry. Those games are the ones people should play, but important is not the right word to categorize them. You're the one confused on the words here.