Hello!
The idea for this material was suggested to me by Vladimir Nimin. Based on the information that I am a player with great experience, he offered to write several articles on the topic of the game, of which I chose one to start. The idea was to talk about the best games in general, but the concept has changed a bit.
Today, some people consider games to be just fun for the weekend, while others do not tolerate them, calling them childish and immature entertainment. I, like another category of people, tend to attribute games to one of the art forms. In my opinion, art is what evokes emotions, thoughts, makes the gears in our heads spin. It is this feature that games satisfy completely, moreover, they are a rare representative of art – interactive art. This is what distinguishes them from architecture or cinema.
Based on these judgments, I tried to select the projects that left behind the most impressions. By the way, in my opinion, the most important thing in games is the gameplay – it is the gameplay that keeps the player at the screen. The rest – the game world, the story, the characters, the picture – are the tools to turn a good game with solid gameplay into a masterpiece for years to come. Nevertheless, you often remember not the games that you spent hundreds of hours at, but the games that are etched into your memory for some other reason.
Epic finale
Do you know this feeling when something large-scale, long and beloved ends? If you have forgotten, the closest landmark is, for example, the end of Game of Thrones in 2019. This is the feeling I got from several large game series.
Mass effect
The brainchild of an old and not very good company BioWare is one of the first to remember. A huge, large-scale cosmo-opera, in which it is very easy to spend tens of hours, and in each of the three numbered parts of the series. In fact, despite the criticism of the franchise, the numbered parts are beautiful in their own way. And it is the third, most criticized game that generates the most powerful sense of the end of something big. She pushes the atmosphere to the very end, and the ending caused a storm of fan outrage, which even forced the developers to rework the ending. And the music from the final video and credits can settle in the playlist for a long time.
Starcraft 2
A very familiar series for most players that was just as well finished three years ago … or not? Perhaps we will still see StarCraft in one form or another, but for now the second part has put a fat point in this fantastic universe. StarCraft 2 is excellent, first of all, the gameplay variety, but the feeling of a powerful campaign finale is like no other game. And if you know well the background of what is happening and have been chasing the Protoss since 1998, multiply your impressions by two. Recently, a remaster of the first part appeared, and the second did not lose its relevance. So if you want a large-scale space confrontation, you can easily join the universe or go through your favorite games anew.
Metal gear solid 4
Somewhere I have already seen an analogy between the MGS series and the long gone train. It seems like the games are excellent, iconic, but playing all of them is quite difficult in terms of time consumption, obsolescence of games and finding a suitable platform. I think it is. But if the relationship with this series developed well for a long time, then by the fourth part it was possible to get one of the best games in general. That's right – the best in general. From whatever angle you look at Metal Gear Solid 4 – the game is very close to almost perfect. Everything in it shows the enormous cost of money and labor invested. The problem is that half of the sensations will pass by if you are not familiar with the series from start to finish. To understand some of the points, you have to suffer playing the first two parts of Metal Gear. Episode 3, with all the nostalgia, will not impress if you haven't completed Metal Gear Solid in due time. The general outline of what is happening will not be clear if you have not seen Metal Gear Solid 2. Well, the background of what is happening will leave a lot of blank spots without eating snakes in MGS 3: Snake Eater. And only if you have all this gaming experience, MGS 4: Sons Of The Patriots will cause you the desired emotions to the fullest.
Personal history
The last of us
The Last of Us ('The Last of Us' in the Russian Federation) is one of the best games of the last five years, according to critics and the gaming community as a whole. Actually, the way to this is a beautiful, lively and varied gameplay, characters you believe in, and the emotions that the game evokes. Of course, you should play it yourself – the game is available on PlayStation 4, and an additional reason is the second part, which is one of the most anticipated games in the next year or two. The history and path of the characters shown in the game are both global and personal, here everyone will find something of their own. But Joel's final 'swear' is unlikely to leave anyone indifferent.
Inexplicably beautiful
Syberia
Benoit Sokal's Siberia is one of the most inexplicably beautiful games. In fact, this is just a quest. With a good, logical and uncomplicated quest gameplay, with beautifully drawn atmospheric locations, with interesting characters, dialogues and the whole storyline. But how this game manages to fall in love with itself – I don't know. The second part lost a little in its charm, but completed the story … which was still continued in Syberia 3. And the first game is a definite masterpiece that is worth seeing. By the way, it has not lost its relevance today and was released, including for iOS and Android.
The longest journey
In this category, there were two quest series – for some reason, it is quests that have a charm that makes you come back to games again and again and remember the emotions they gave. The Longest Journey series is characterized by a strange, mystical and magical world, in which there are also unforgettable places (The Fringe, for example). And the games in the series have a very dense atmosphere, as if magic is really happening around.
Special nomination
Beyond Good and Evil
The second part of this game has recently caused an extremely violent reaction from journalists at gaming exhibitions (E3, Gamescom), and someone may not understand why. The answer lies, of course, in the first part of the series, released in 2003. Generally speaking, if the game is taken apart, it turns out that it is nothing special. Simple arcade gameplay with stealth elements, vehicle transportation, battles and platforming. Not that there is a particularly original or outstanding plot. But for some reason this game fell in love with myself, once and for all. Perhaps even the game designer Michel Ansel himself, who created this game with his team, will not be able to explain to you what the secret of its appeal is. Or he can. But this does not negate the fact – this game is beautiful, and the future sequel should be worth getting to know this little masterpiece of the gaming industry.
After writing the article, I thought that it is the final impressions that the project or game series leaves behind that are the most valuable in this hobby. And today, when remakes, remasters and other re-releases rule the ball, the value of these impressions only grows.
What do you think about this? What games evoked the most vivid emotions in you?
Thank you!
Alexander Bolonkin