- Jan 18, 2004
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My favorite sorts of games have always been the ones that require thinking power more than fast reflexes, but these sorts of games never seem to become especially well-known. Myst is an exception, since it did several things that games had never done before, and the same thing is true of the Zelda series, whose fame also probably has to do with the fact that its action components are just as good as those in many pure action games. But what about the rest of the games that test players' brainpower rather than their reflexes?
Here are a few such games that never got to be as famous as they should have:
Riven, the sequel to Myst. (PC) This game has, hands-down, the TOUGHEST puzzles in any video game I've ever played. That alone may turn some people away from it, but if you can get around that fact you'll find some of the most beautiful scenery in any video game ever made. (Especially impressive considering that the game came out in 1997.) No other game before or since has come close to Riven's ability to create a world that seems completely real, together with its own culture, its own wildlife, its own language, its own technology, and its own history, all of which can (and often must) be gradually discovered by the player in order to solve the game's puzzles.
The Longest Journey. (PC) This game ranks among the most under-appreciated games of all time, for one very important reason: its story. Looking at screenshots of it has a tendency to make the game look like merely an above-average puzzle-based adventure game along the lines of Grim Fandango (which is also worth playing), but spending a few hours with it will reveal a story superior to that of almost any movie. This is the only game I've ever played where I started to miss the characters in it after I had finished it--how often can a game create characters that seem real enough for THAT?
ICO. (PS2) Another game for the most under-appreciated games list, but for this one I really can't understand why so few people know about it. The game does not try to do very much: there are only three important characters, there's very little music, and the game is only about 10 hours long. However, this game is virtually unrivaled in the quality of its animation, the intelligence of its puzzles, and the sheer sense of atmosphere created by the crumbling castle where most of the game takes place. While Riven creates an entire world with its own rules and culture, ICO creates a single piece of architecture the size of a small city, which is so precisely designed that portions of it that offer views of other areas in it allow the player to see the "levels" they were exploring fitting together to form something that puts most real-world architects to shame.
My parents (who are Christians) like all three of these games, which should be a good indicator of whether or not Christians in general would like them. The only one that some people might be offended by is The Longest Journey, whose attempt to make the characters seem realistic is so thorough that those of them who would most likely use foul language if they existed in the real world also do so in the game. ICO also has a moderate amount of stylized violence, but nothing more than you would see in the Lord of the Rings movies.
I really think it's a shame that these games are so poorly-known, because they really don't deserve to be. Hopefully by posting this thread I'll motivate some of you to try them.
Here are a few such games that never got to be as famous as they should have:
Riven, the sequel to Myst. (PC) This game has, hands-down, the TOUGHEST puzzles in any video game I've ever played. That alone may turn some people away from it, but if you can get around that fact you'll find some of the most beautiful scenery in any video game ever made. (Especially impressive considering that the game came out in 1997.) No other game before or since has come close to Riven's ability to create a world that seems completely real, together with its own culture, its own wildlife, its own language, its own technology, and its own history, all of which can (and often must) be gradually discovered by the player in order to solve the game's puzzles.
The Longest Journey. (PC) This game ranks among the most under-appreciated games of all time, for one very important reason: its story. Looking at screenshots of it has a tendency to make the game look like merely an above-average puzzle-based adventure game along the lines of Grim Fandango (which is also worth playing), but spending a few hours with it will reveal a story superior to that of almost any movie. This is the only game I've ever played where I started to miss the characters in it after I had finished it--how often can a game create characters that seem real enough for THAT?
ICO. (PS2) Another game for the most under-appreciated games list, but for this one I really can't understand why so few people know about it. The game does not try to do very much: there are only three important characters, there's very little music, and the game is only about 10 hours long. However, this game is virtually unrivaled in the quality of its animation, the intelligence of its puzzles, and the sheer sense of atmosphere created by the crumbling castle where most of the game takes place. While Riven creates an entire world with its own rules and culture, ICO creates a single piece of architecture the size of a small city, which is so precisely designed that portions of it that offer views of other areas in it allow the player to see the "levels" they were exploring fitting together to form something that puts most real-world architects to shame.
My parents (who are Christians) like all three of these games, which should be a good indicator of whether or not Christians in general would like them. The only one that some people might be offended by is The Longest Journey, whose attempt to make the characters seem realistic is so thorough that those of them who would most likely use foul language if they existed in the real world also do so in the game. ICO also has a moderate amount of stylized violence, but nothing more than you would see in the Lord of the Rings movies.
I really think it's a shame that these games are so poorly-known, because they really don't deserve to be. Hopefully by posting this thread I'll motivate some of you to try them.
