Oh shit, forgot about Dwarf Fortress. Transformative and arresting. The greatest thing in gaming in the past 10 years, imo. The utter magnitude and attention to detail in this game and its systems is mind-boggling. It raised the standard for all games.
There is great art that is personal, and that which is universal. Read 'Artist and Public: And Other Essays on Art Subjects' by Kenyon Cox. But all one has to do is look at history and the role art has played in various cultures to see that this is true.
To be tranformed or arrested are two different reactions. I'll go with the second*: what I found most striking. Demon's Souls would be at the top of games released starting in the last console generation. Because of the senses of isolation and desolation that are so important, to me, in what makes a great adventure in a game. Shadow of the Colossus. The Legend of Zelda. Metroid. Morrowind. These games and others all have this trait in common. Unlocking the mysteries of a realm you are not familiar with, negotiating its hazards. One can have adventure in a world not so forlorn or vacant, but it's a different atmosphere. What I'm getting at is a quasi- mystical experience (or for the characters in the story, sometimes literally mystical), which is absent amidst the hustle and bustle of civilization or settlement.
Or maybe it's simpler than that. I just like natural wastelands, often intersecting with ancient ruins. World 4 of Demon's Souls evokes the same feelings that Shadow of Colossus did in the previous generation. Overcast and silvery. Windswept and cool. The character of spring and fall, my favorite seasons, here in the midwest.
Other games I found arresting on a more formal level:
Terraria - I would have lost my mind over a game like this back in the 16-bit days, an aesthetic it aims to imitate. It's got everything. It's Metroid + Legend of Zelda + Diablo. The itemization is some of the best I've seen in a game (reminding me of how bland it's become in Elder Scrolls, post Morrowind).
Red Dead Redemption - Lives up to its title. This is a story of redemption, and revenge, and redemption through revenge. The ending dots the I on all that came before, like few game stories ever have. I still contest there is no company better at storytelling in AAA than Rockstar. Suck it, Naughty Dog.
*All the games I would call transformative happened well in the past, such as the original Castlevania.
I think Rockstar are the lead example of taking the real world and making somethign interesting from it. They really shined during the PS2 era. Manhunt was about as creepy as any game with monsters in it. Bully was as whimsical as any fairy tale or cartoon. Two highly underrated games, btw.
Fantasy - Jim Henson/Hayao Miyazaki style. More individual approaches to the genre. Less dwarves/elves/orcs.
But I want more real world games. That don't involve time travel, the occult, sci-fi or any other "geek candy." This so called 'artform' has had little to say about the world as it is.
Ah, one of my favorite topics. Halloween/horror/horror games.
Ghouls and Ghosts is a good example of just how powerful arcade hardware was. Deceptively simple graphics to the average eye but it never received a perfect port, and it took until 1994 to even get close. None of the 16bit consoles could do it.
Castlevania is Castlevania. The first game changed everything for me. And some of my last greatest game memories came from the DS games. Bloodstained is our last hope to resurrect the spirt of this series (pun intended).
I have the whole weekend off, so I think I will be hitting up Gargoyle's Quest 2 and Demon's Crest. I played GQ at release on GB. Was one of the best games I played on the handheld. From what I've seen of DC, it has a thick atmosphere, dark palette, and eerie gothic music. Seems right up my alley.
Resident Evil is Resident Evil. Another game changer for me. I'd say REmake is the definitive vision. RE4 is a fine game, but there is something so conventional about it that its hard for me to mark as represntive of the RE brand. It's an action game that inspired many others after it, but still just an action game. Walk forward and shoot, maybe a little backtracking through what are essentially corridors. There is nothing else in the series like the RE1/REmake experience, not even the police station in RE2 is so precisely layed out. And you are never as vulnerable in the series again, which is of huge importance imo.
Oh, we're getting close.
2007 was kind of thin in the game department to me. It was the year of sloppy shooting mechanics yet confident storytelling in AAA games, and of interesting smaller scale projects. You really see the tide start to turn towards western dominance of the console space in this year. Nothing that blew my skirt up yet, though.
Ultima. How it should have continued, which is by building on Ultima 7 (which no one has really done in a couple of key areas) and pushing the RPG genre forward once again. Look at they were doing in 1992 with world building and NPCs and then imagine that evolving all the way up until now!
The scanning enhances the science fiction aspect.. You are doing research, essentially. Most games in the genre don't include anything in the way of scientific endeavor at all.
Nice. I want one. Metroid Prime...few games I consider better than it, console or PC. Just a great feel and look to it, and Echoes to a lesser extent. The worlds have a similar appeal to Morrowind, in feeling alien and fantastical. I find this game to also have a similar appeal to other immersive FP games like System Shock, Deus Ex, Bioshock. The game has a lot of the "values" that I like in games, like responstiveness, polish, elaborate level design, boss fights, strong art direction, environmental storytelling and puzzling. etc.
Tales of Phantasia is as far as I go. Can't stand the prissy anime designs of the later games.
Independent games stores are the best. These are people who are really into the hobby and it shows in their customer relations.
