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I can't think of anything MGS2 did that MGS3 did not do better. 3 was the best that series ever had.
As a gigantic Metal Gear fan, I concur.
The ending is heart breaking.
I'm also going to chuck in Half-Life 2, which was an immense experience to play through along with Episodes 1 & 2 when The Orange Box came out. Every step of that game felt truly epic, and I was honestly amazed they kept managing to pull things out that kept making my jaw drop to the floor. Incredible.
Pac-Man: Championship Edition & Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2. In pretty much all of the games that people have mentioned so far, I can think of major flaws (SMAC has a really high learning curve, Planescape: Torment has horrendous combat, etc.), but Pac-Man:CE & GW2 are two games that are as close to flawless as games get: they both are very easy for anyone to pick up, but filled with tons of depth for skilled players, they both look & sound fantastic, and they're both a ton of fun. Heck, yesterday, I turned on Pac-Man:CE for a brief play and ended up spending several hours just trying to improve my high scores.
Pokemon. Yeah, it'd be neat for a full 3d console game, better online mode, or an MMO version, but the core game is fantastic. I can still pull out a game from any generation and enjoy it.
Perfect games... seems tough but there are a few personal favorites of mine I can share.
The obvious being Super Mario World, Pokemon Red, and Zelda: Ocarina of Time. There are a few more current games on my list as well.
Bioshock - Would you kindly? This game made me just sit in awe for hours on end watching it. The gameplay, the story, the graphics. Holy cow the first minutes are heart pumping and to this day the only game to scare me.
Super Smash Bros. 64/Melee/Brawl - What a great party game. I love all three of these, so many good memories of these with Falcon. My friend and I have been playing Falcon vs Falcon for years. It's great to whip out on those nights where there is little else to do and the party is winding down.
Final Fantasy X - I must have over 500 hours on this game. It's one of the best, bar none. Amazing cutscenes and the story MY GOD. I bought this on a blind buy. No reviews. Nothing. Best 20 bucks ever.
acidlacedpenguinInstitutionalizedSafe in jail.Registered Userregular
edited September 2008
you know what would make any of the MGS games fall into my even my long-list? having playable controls.
I played through MGS1 back while they were still sorting out this whole "3d world" thing, but MGS2? AFTER Splinter Cell absolutely nailed the controls?
because of that I couldn't be bothered to play MGS2, and because no MGS2 I didn't want to start MGS3. . . and MGS4. . .
/rant
I have to say that I can't see Shadow of the Colossus on the list of Perfect Games. To me, to be a perfect game it's not enough to have a great storyline and atmosphere (which SOTC had) but it has to be technically sound. The framerate and camera work in SOTC were bad enough that I can't play it - and Ico is still in my top 10 games of all time so I SHOULD have really loved it and trust me, I tried to. Remake it for the PS3 with a better engine and then it may qualify.
I would have to say that the original Pokemon games might be perfect. Great graphics for a original Gameboy title, decent storyline and amazing depth all combine for a game that is more or less universally appealing.
SMB3 is the other title that immediately came to mind for me too - the variety of levels and powerups, spot on platforming game play, and almost perfect ramping up of difficulty all combine for a game that would be hard to improve upon. I remember everything in the game being a surprise from secrets like the warp flutes to the first time you enter "giant world". Just an amazing game.
I played through MGS1 back while they were still sorting out this whole "3d world" thing, but MGS2? AFTER Splinter Cell absolutely nailed the controls?
Actually, no. Like a year before Splinter Cell absolutely nailed the controls.
Super Metroid. Metroid Prime (didn't play it until I got a Wii and I still claim it generates the greatest feeling of immersion of any game I've ever played, even better than 2 and 3. You really do feel like you're in the suit. Didn't like 3's controls all that much, it distracted from the game and the environment that the first one got so right).
FFVI. Flame wars be damned, VI hasn't been topped yet in any aspect for me, especially music and storyline. Espers/battle system? Simplicity rules here. VII's Materia system is an almost-tie though. The mechanics of every game since feel like they were designed by committee and were new just for the sake of being new. X, for being the first game on PS2, has always felt like Final Fantasy: Muppets on Crack edition to me.
Secret of Mana. What a satisfying game, and some of the catchiest and most effective music not just on the SNES, but ever.
Chrono Trigger - I think it's illegal to have a best-games-ever list without this one. Truly epic.
TF2 - Favorite multiplayer game so far (I'm not an MMO guy).
Burnout: Paradise: Loves me some racing games, and I've probably spent more time with this one than any other.
Portal.
These games are all perfect to me, in that I don't think I'd change anything about any of them.
The way I've recently learned to judge games' (and indeed movies') qualities is by how well they achieve what they set out to do.
I think it's a good metric.
Portal set out to be a great simple puzzle game, with a fantastic mechanic, and quirky fun dialogue. And it achieves that fantastically. Win for portal.
Crysis sets out to be a gorgeous, challenging, colourful shooter, which gives the player lots of choice as to how to approach situations. And it does that, again, fantastically. Win.
STALKER focused on atmosphere. It wanted to be this scary, tense, huntery shooter set against some of the greatest imagery of post-meltdown chernobyl. It had bugs and was shoddily coded somewhat, but the atmosphere was perfect. Win.
It's like with movies - some people criticised 300 for plot and historical accuracy, but it never set out to do those things. It wanted to be this gold-coloured manly artistic fighty film, about men fighting men and shining a lot and looking awesome. It did this perfectly. My argument to those people who watched it and didn't like it would be: It never tried to be those things you wanted. It advertised what it was going to be like, and it achieved what it set out to do. If you wanted thick plot and historical accuracy, you shouldn't have looked for it in 300.
Like I say, I think doing perfectly what you set out to do is the best metric for quality.
Sheesh, the standards for 'perfect' have really fallen, especially if you're going by the 'has no flaw, can brook no improvement' standard. I don't think I've played a game yet that couldn't have been improved some way.
It's really kind of a pointless discussion though, considering that everyone has different priorities in terms of what they find fun, as well as different amounts of tolerance for certain faults.
Having said that, I'm nominating Starflight, from 1982. :P
SageinaRage on
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acidlacedpenguinInstitutionalizedSafe in jail.Registered Userregular
I played through MGS1 back while they were still sorting out this whole "3d world" thing, but MGS2? AFTER Splinter Cell absolutely nailed the controls?
Actually, no. Like a year before Splinter Cell absolutely nailed the controls.
MGS2: November 2001
Splinter Cell: November 2002
I owned an xbox, and forgot to realize that MGS2 came out earlier. . .
main point is still valid, game handles like shit and fails because of it. Which is also the reason the Metroid Prime games fail too. SHITSTORM ENGAGED.
For me, Final Fantasy Tactics, Castlevania: Symphony of The Night, Legend of Zelda: A Link to The Past, and World of Warcraft are all that are perfect with games.
SUPER METROID
The first video game I played where the atmosphere told the story. Seeing the water splash around Samus' feet when she first lands on the planet and knowing it was acid rain somehow completely sold that world for me.
GRAND THEFT AUTO IV
A modern classic, I know, but one that continues to amaze me. The sheer, unrelenting number of things to do and see is staggering. The narrative is deep and the characters well-written. And the controls are spot-on.
SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS
Games as art. Beautiful, simple, and emotionally compelling. What I wouldn't give to see this on the 360.
There are a few others I'd toss in the pile with some reservation. The sheer spectacle and production values of Kingdom Hearts II make that game worth a play, even if you don't care about the story or the Disney aspect. Zelda games have basically copied LttP (which isn't entirely a bad thing). Super Mario 64 solidified 3D platforming. And so on. The three above stick out in my mind though.
I'm still going to have to say Mario Galaxy. It is rare for a game to make me smile or laugh, even when I'm on my own, not because of humor, but because of the imagination some things must have took to think up the game elements. If a game can do that, while still also being intuitive, compelling, and challenging, then I would say it's perfect for me.
Portal also agrees with Mario Galaxy on how a game should be.
Oh, and Half Life 2, because I have never felt so immersed in a game in my life.
Other games I would like to say are CLOSE to perfect:
Res Evil 4
Metroid Prime 3
Rockband/2 (I consider them one game now really)
Super Mario World
Final Fantasy VI (I want to say Vii, but I am ashamed to admit, the graphics in the game are REALLY distracting. They looked so good at the time, but they have not aged well)
Chrono Trigger
Megaman 2
jeddy lee on
Backlog Challenge: 0%
0/8
PS2
FF X replay
PS3
God of War 1&2 HD
Rachet and Clank Future
MGS 4
Prince of Persia
Pac-Man: Championship Edition & Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2. In pretty much all of the games that people have mentioned so far, I can think of major flaws (SMAC has a really high learning curve, Planescape: Torment has horrendous combat, etc.), but Pac-Man:CE & GW2 are two games that are as close to flawless as games get: they both are very easy for anyone to pick up, but filled with tons of depth for skilled players, they both look & sound fantastic, and they're both a ton of fun. Heck, yesterday, I turned on Pac-Man:CE for a brief play and ended up spending several hours just trying to improve my high scores.
Yeah, I do like how some games are going back to what we saw pre-NES days where you have simple mechanics for casual players but no set "end," just things moving faster and perhaps more enemies on-screen so "hardcore" players can test themselves and see how far they get or how many combo points they can rack up. In 1983, anybody could walk into an arcade and play Donkey Kong, but if you really wanted to be obsessive about it, you could try to memorize the patterns to get as high a score as possible. (Yeah, I just watched King of Kong.) There weren't "casual" games or "core" games, there were just video games and the difference wasn't in what game you played but how you played it.
Feral on
every person who doesn't like an acquired taste always seems to think everyone who likes it is faking it. it should be an official fallacy.
SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS
Games as art. Beautiful, simple, and emotionally compelling. What I wouldn't give to see this on the 360.
I'm going to fifth this or whatever. This game deserves every mention it gets.
See that huge lumbering creature? After searching for it across a lonely wind-swept world with only your sword to guide you, you will cling to it's fur, scale it like a mountain while it tries to shake you off, and then stab it to death with a sword. All on a PS2 in wide-screen and progressive scan.
The Ico team will do amazing things with the PS3. For the first time they will be nearly un-hindered by technology.
Mentioned, but that ain't enough. Undoubtedly one of the most adult and engaging RPG's ever released on the PS 1, Tactics offered depth in plot and gameplay that most designers wet themselves dreaming of. I've replayed this game countless times, clocked hundreds of hours, and still find myself wondering if I can do a solo run with a mediator Ramza.
Characters that stick with you. Delita was so well done. Orlandu was the epitome of hardcore. Wiegraf was compelling, and Zalbag always sticks out in my mind. I always loved the fact that you walked around with a complete encyclopedia of characters and events that constantly updates with character's ages and the consequences of your battles.
The job system is fantastic. If you combine five characters in an active party and combine that with the twenty jobs available, and then factor in all the different and often useful abilities you can buy; you find yourself staggered by how unique you can make your group, and how the game can always accommodate your playstyle.
Brilliant. If my PS2 hadn't lost its backwards compatibility, I'd probably be playing it right now.
My first game was DigDug on my Packard Bell 8088 PC. I haven't stopped gaming since, but I'm primarily a PC Gamer. Here's my list:
Mutant League Football: This game was clearly a labor of love. It's immature, violent, and surprisingly deep for its time. Winning the Blood Bowl was quite an achievement, but you'd be laughing the whole way through it. "Just like smashing a souffle with a sledgehammer!"
FIFA '99 (PC): This iteration was the pinnacle of the series for me. It made good use of my Voodoo3, had ridiculous customization, added compelling gameplay improvements, and had a bitchin' soundtrack (Scott Hardkiss?!). I stopped playing soccer sims after FIFA '01 though, so I might have missed another stellar footy sim.
Die Hard Arcade: yes, it's impossibly ugly today, but when I think of "gameplay," I immediately think "Die Hard Arcade. The game is like great quickie sex--thirteen minutes of pure, primal pleasure. It shoved Virtua Fighter mechanics into an arcade beat-em up. Taking down an enemy often went something like this: Pick up an industrial broom, beat a terrorist over the head with it. Pick up his dropped gun, empty 12 rounds in his direction, then throw the empty gun at him. While he's reeling from THAT onslaught, charge him, tackle him to the ground, and then pound your fist through his skull four times before he throws you off. Jump at him and double-fist him, then piledrive him while his friends watch in stunned amazement. Also lots of fun was shooting a buck-and-change boy into the opposite wall with an anti-tank rifle.
Another thing that impressed me about Die Hard was that even though it was an arcade game, it was purely skill-based. If you were good enough, you could beat it without using a continue. I borrowed a friend's Saturn for a month and beat this game every morning before I went to school. It set the tone for the rest of the day. The graphics haven't aged well at all, but the gameplay is absolutely timeless.
Tribes 2: The game itself, ignoring the myriad technical difficulties, has yet to be bested by other contenders. When a group of players who sufficiently understood the game got together, epic battles always resulted. No other game has so skillfully combined three-dimensional action, sprawling levels, vehicular combat, and diverse class-based gameplay. My best gaming moment ever was an all-night, 24-man LAN devoted exclusively to Tribes 2.
Team Fortress 2: I pined for the glory days of Tribes 2 for years before TF2 came around. While I still maintain a faint yearning for jetpacks and airdiscs, TF2 leaves no time for such nostalgic pangs. Its action is tight and quick. Strategy is dynamic and emergent. The graphics are fantastic and engaging without trying to be virtuoso. The classes have distinct gameplay styles, and very balanced strengths and weaknesses. The regular updates prove the developer's dedication to the game, and add depth to a product that is already perfect. For example, while playing a Pyro on a payload map, if the cart is far away from a checkpoint, I will use the backburner and wreak havoc in the midfield. However, if the cart is near a checkpoint and my team has a solid defense set up to guard it, I switch to the leafblower and use it to disrupt enemy ubercharges. I'm also one of the few people who, when defending a CP map like Gravelpit or Steel, will switch to a scout when time is about to run out and run behind enemy lines to distract the offense from their mission of capping the point. It's one of the few games where no man is an island, and the probability of winning is directly proportional to the ability of a team to work together.
SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS
Games as art. Beautiful, simple, and emotionally compelling. What I wouldn't give to see this on the 360.
I'm going to fifth this or whatever. This game deserves every mention it gets.
See that huge lumbering creature? After searching for it across a lonely wind-swept world with only your sword to guide you, you will cling to it's fur, scale it like a mountain while it tries to shake you off, and then stab it to death with a sword. All on a PS2 in wide-screen and progressive scan.
The Ico team will do amazing things with the PS3. For the first time they will be nearly un-hindered by technology.
How do you say this deserves the label of "Perfect Game"? I understand loving it (sort of) for the artstyle and story but the camera is fucked and the framerate is terrible. When you wish the game would appear on a different console presumably to iron out the technical issues it has, then it isn't a Perfect Game.
I'm generally of the mindset that no game is perfect, but some that I consider the best of the best are:
Final Fantasy VI
Chrono Trigger
Resident Evil 4
Fatal Frame 2
Shadow of the Colossus
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Super Mario 64
Jade Empire
Dragon Quest VIII
Bioshock
I'm sure I'm forgetting a few, but that's a start. Also, I had a wall of text written up for each game expounding its virtues, but it got deleted and I'll be slapped with a turtle before I go to the trouble of typing it all out again.
SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS
Games as art. Beautiful, simple, and emotionally compelling. What I wouldn't give to see this on the 360.
I'm going to fifth this or whatever. This game deserves every mention it gets.
See that huge lumbering creature? After searching for it across a lonely wind-swept world with only your sword to guide you, you will cling to it's fur, scale it like a mountain while it tries to shake you off, and then stab it to death with a sword. All on a PS2 in wide-screen and progressive scan.
The Ico team will do amazing things with the PS3. For the first time they will be nearly un-hindered by technology.
How do you say this deserves the label of "Perfect Game"? I understand loving it (sort of) for the artstyle and story but the camera is fucked and the framerate is terrible. When you wish the game would appear on a different console presumably to iron out the technical issues it has, then it isn't a Perfect Game.
SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS
Games as art. Beautiful, simple, and emotionally compelling. What I wouldn't give to see this on the 360.
I'm going to fifth this or whatever. This game deserves every mention it gets.
See that huge lumbering creature? After searching for it across a lonely wind-swept world with only your sword to guide you, you will cling to it's fur, scale it like a mountain while it tries to shake you off, and then stab it to death with a sword. All on a PS2 in wide-screen and progressive scan.
The Ico team will do amazing things with the PS3. For the first time they will be nearly un-hindered by technology.
How do you say this deserves the label of "Perfect Game"? I understand loving it (sort of) for the artstyle and story but the camera is fucked and the framerate is terrible. When you wish the game would appear on a different console presumably to iron out the technical issues it has, then it isn't a Perfect Game.
OMG OPINIONS ARE MADNESS
No - that's not an acceptible answer, if I can't question someone's choices then it becomes nothing but a poll thread and those are dull (and not allowed). There are a ton of games that I love and consider must own games, but cannot be called perfect because they have very easily noticed issues/flaws.
SOTC cannot be labelled perfect because it has huge flaws in the camera and framerate. If I suggested Mario Sunshine, I'm sure a ton of people would point out that the camera in that game would immediately make it not earn a "perfect" label (among other reasons). I'm not saying SOTC isn't a great game, I'm saying it can't be considered in a list of gaming perfection because it has flaws that many other games during the same console cycle didn't have.
Maybe I missed it, but what about Diablo II? How many hours of our lives have we lost to that game. Blizzard makes some damn good shiite. Always Starcraft, the Warcraft series, and now they just rake in money hand over fist from WoW.
Read a news report that said they've spent about 200 million on upkeep and maintenance for the game - over the past four years - while they make about 100 million a month from the game.
Anything by Blizzard would definitely be close to perfect game for me.
Shadow of the Colossus. For reasons already discussed. As the anti-Zelda, it is perfect.
XCOM. Because when a pixellated DOS strategy game can actually make you jump with fear, you know it has reached some sort of timeless perfection.
If it weren't for Relic's inability to balance games, Company of Heroes would be another pick, but alas.
I would say that Braid is absolutely the height of perfection in gameplay, but the story could use some work. Although the integration of story with gameplay is brilliantly done, especially in the last level, and is something other games could stand to learn from. Regardless, as far as gameplay goes, Braid was always presenting you with challenging puzzles that you could solve through experimentation and analysis of each world's new system. Brilliant.
No - that's not an acceptible answer, if I can't question someone's choices then it becomes nothing but a poll thread and those are dull (and not allowed). There are a ton of games that I love and consider must own games, but cannot be called perfect because they have very easily noticed issues/flaws.
SOTC cannot be labelled perfect because it has huge flaws in the camera and framerate. If I suggested Mario Sunshine, I'm sure a ton of people would point out that the camera in that game would immediately make it not earn a "perfect" label (among other reasons). I'm not saying SOTC isn't a great game, I'm saying it can't be considered in a list of gaming perfection because it has flaws that many other games during the same console cycle didn't have.
Then there's no such thing as a truly perfect game, because all games are limited by the technology of the time, and technology is always progressing. There's no perfect technology. You can always have better framerates, higher resolutions, better looking textures, more enemies on-screen, better AI, etc.
Feral on
every person who doesn't like an acquired taste always seems to think everyone who likes it is faking it. it should be an official fallacy.
SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS
Games as art. Beautiful, simple, and emotionally compelling. What I wouldn't give to see this on the 360.
I'm going to fifth this or whatever. This game deserves every mention it gets.
See that huge lumbering creature? After searching for it across a lonely wind-swept world with only your sword to guide you, you will cling to it's fur, scale it like a mountain while it tries to shake you off, and then stab it to death with a sword. All on a PS2 in wide-screen and progressive scan.
The Ico team will do amazing things with the PS3. For the first time they will be nearly un-hindered by technology.
How do you say this deserves the label of "Perfect Game"? I understand loving it (sort of) for the artstyle and story but the camera is fucked and the framerate is terrible. When you wish the game would appear on a different console presumably to iron out the technical issues it has, then it isn't a Perfect Game.
OMG OPINIONS ARE MADNESS
No - that's not an acceptible answer, if I can't question someone's choices then it becomes nothing but a poll thread and those are dull (and not allowed). There are a ton of games that I love and consider must own games, but cannot be called perfect because they have very easily noticed issues/flaws.
SOTC cannot be labelled perfect because it has huge flaws in the camera and framerate. If I suggested Mario Sunshine, I'm sure a ton of people would point out that the camera in that game would immediately make it not earn a "perfect" label (among other reasons). I'm not saying SOTC isn't a great game, I'm saying it can't be considered in a list of gaming perfection because it has flaws that many other games during the same console cycle didn't have.
Well, if you're determined to question it, then you're doing so for a stupid reason. Also, you spelled acceptable wrong. But I think you're missing the point of the thread - it's not here so we can argue about how MY GAME IS MORE BEST or PFFT THAT GAME SUCKS ASS, but instead so that we can talk about what was awesome about the games we loved the most.
I'd say that for a lot of people, framerate doesn't even come into consideration as to whether or not a game can be considered perfect. I know for me it certainly doesn't. Besides, SOTC is in my list of favorite games and I honestly never noticed the camera/framerate issues you mention. I was too immersed in the amazing game world to notice or care. But yes, OMG OPINIONS is an acceptable answer, and the only one that really counts, because that's what this damn thread is about. Your qualifications are not the same as everyone else's.
Also, your username is Lindsey Lohan, and therefore I don't have to listen to anything you say.
edit: and to quote the OP:
Keep in mind that your choices don't necessarily have to be toward games that are flawless in every conceivable way, just close enough to perfect that you have no real complaints about it, and can't imagine anything that could have been added or modified to make it better.
I would argue that SOTC is more perfect than most PS2 games that had better framerates etc because it pushed the technology so much farther, especially with the lighting and lack of load times while running around a huuuuge world.
The counter to this argument would be that if it had truly been perfect, they would have scaled down the lighting etc to get the framerate higher.
The counter to that argument is shut up, that's why.
Posts
As a gigantic Metal Gear fan, I concur.
The ending is heart breaking.
I'm also going to chuck in Half-Life 2, which was an immense experience to play through along with Episodes 1 & 2 when The Orange Box came out. Every step of that game felt truly epic, and I was honestly amazed they kept managing to pull things out that kept making my jaw drop to the floor. Incredible.
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire,
The obvious being Super Mario World, Pokemon Red, and Zelda: Ocarina of Time. There are a few more current games on my list as well.
Bioshock - Would you kindly? This game made me just sit in awe for hours on end watching it. The gameplay, the story, the graphics. Holy cow the first minutes are heart pumping and to this day the only game to scare me.
Super Smash Bros. 64/Melee/Brawl - What a great party game. I love all three of these, so many good memories of these with Falcon. My friend and I have been playing Falcon vs Falcon for years. It's great to whip out on those nights where there is little else to do and the party is winding down.
Final Fantasy X - I must have over 500 hours on this game. It's one of the best, bar none. Amazing cutscenes and the story MY GOD. I bought this on a blind buy. No reviews. Nothing. Best 20 bucks ever.
3DS FC: 5343-7720-0490
I played through MGS1 back while they were still sorting out this whole "3d world" thing, but MGS2? AFTER Splinter Cell absolutely nailed the controls?
because of that I couldn't be bothered to play MGS2, and because no MGS2 I didn't want to start MGS3. . . and MGS4. . .
/rant
my choice:
Jagged Alliance 2
I would have to say that the original Pokemon games might be perfect. Great graphics for a original Gameboy title, decent storyline and amazing depth all combine for a game that is more or less universally appealing.
SMB3 is the other title that immediately came to mind for me too - the variety of levels and powerups, spot on platforming game play, and almost perfect ramping up of difficulty all combine for a game that would be hard to improve upon. I remember everything in the game being a surprise from secrets like the warp flutes to the first time you enter "giant world". Just an amazing game.
Actually, no. Like a year before Splinter Cell absolutely nailed the controls.
MGS2: November 2001
Splinter Cell: November 2002
There is just so much polish on those games. As close to perfecting the formulas of the previous versions as I can imagine.
Super Metroid. Metroid Prime (didn't play it until I got a Wii and I still claim it generates the greatest feeling of immersion of any game I've ever played, even better than 2 and 3. You really do feel like you're in the suit. Didn't like 3's controls all that much, it distracted from the game and the environment that the first one got so right).
FFVI. Flame wars be damned, VI hasn't been topped yet in any aspect for me, especially music and storyline. Espers/battle system? Simplicity rules here. VII's Materia system is an almost-tie though. The mechanics of every game since feel like they were designed by committee and were new just for the sake of being new. X, for being the first game on PS2, has always felt like Final Fantasy: Muppets on Crack edition to me.
Secret of Mana. What a satisfying game, and some of the catchiest and most effective music not just on the SNES, but ever.
Chrono Trigger - I think it's illegal to have a best-games-ever list without this one. Truly epic.
TF2 - Favorite multiplayer game so far (I'm not an MMO guy).
Burnout: Paradise: Loves me some racing games, and I've probably spent more time with this one than any other.
Portal.
These games are all perfect to me, in that I don't think I'd change anything about any of them.
I think it's a good metric.
Portal set out to be a great simple puzzle game, with a fantastic mechanic, and quirky fun dialogue. And it achieves that fantastically. Win for portal.
Crysis sets out to be a gorgeous, challenging, colourful shooter, which gives the player lots of choice as to how to approach situations. And it does that, again, fantastically. Win.
STALKER focused on atmosphere. It wanted to be this scary, tense, huntery shooter set against some of the greatest imagery of post-meltdown chernobyl. It had bugs and was shoddily coded somewhat, but the atmosphere was perfect. Win.
It's like with movies - some people criticised 300 for plot and historical accuracy, but it never set out to do those things. It wanted to be this gold-coloured manly artistic fighty film, about men fighting men and shining a lot and looking awesome. It did this perfectly. My argument to those people who watched it and didn't like it would be: It never tried to be those things you wanted. It advertised what it was going to be like, and it achieved what it set out to do. If you wanted thick plot and historical accuracy, you shouldn't have looked for it in 300.
Like I say, I think doing perfectly what you set out to do is the best metric for quality.
It's really kind of a pointless discussion though, considering that everyone has different priorities in terms of what they find fun, as well as different amounts of tolerance for certain faults.
Having said that, I'm nominating Starflight, from 1982. :P
I owned an xbox, and forgot to realize that MGS2 came out earlier. . .
main point is still valid, game handles like shit and fails because of it. Which is also the reason the Metroid Prime games fail too. SHITSTORM ENGAGED.
X-COM: EU and GalCiv2: TotA would be up there as well.
If there was one thing i could complain about, was that it ended. It was such an experience for me.
Yes. I don't know why I didn't mention this.
Ico is one of my all time favourites. I love it a little bit more than Shadow Of The Colossus.
Also, I didn't have a problem with any of the MGS series control scheme. I don't really see what the problem is...?
SUPER METROID
The first video game I played where the atmosphere told the story. Seeing the water splash around Samus' feet when she first lands on the planet and knowing it was acid rain somehow completely sold that world for me.
GRAND THEFT AUTO IV
A modern classic, I know, but one that continues to amaze me. The sheer, unrelenting number of things to do and see is staggering. The narrative is deep and the characters well-written. And the controls are spot-on.
SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS
Games as art. Beautiful, simple, and emotionally compelling. What I wouldn't give to see this on the 360.
There are a few others I'd toss in the pile with some reservation. The sheer spectacle and production values of Kingdom Hearts II make that game worth a play, even if you don't care about the story or the Disney aspect. Zelda games have basically copied LttP (which isn't entirely a bad thing). Super Mario 64 solidified 3D platforming. And so on. The three above stick out in my mind though.
Portal also agrees with Mario Galaxy on how a game should be.
Oh, and Half Life 2, because I have never felt so immersed in a game in my life.
Other games I would like to say are CLOSE to perfect:
Res Evil 4
Metroid Prime 3
Rockband/2 (I consider them one game now really)
Super Mario World
Final Fantasy VI (I want to say Vii, but I am ashamed to admit, the graphics in the game are REALLY distracting. They looked so good at the time, but they have not aged well)
Chrono Trigger
Megaman 2
PS2
FF X replay
PS3
God of War 1&2 HD
Rachet and Clank Future
MGS 4
Prince of Persia
360
Bayonetta
Fable 3
DS
FF: 4 heroes of light
Yeah, I do like how some games are going back to what we saw pre-NES days where you have simple mechanics for casual players but no set "end," just things moving faster and perhaps more enemies on-screen so "hardcore" players can test themselves and see how far they get or how many combo points they can rack up. In 1983, anybody could walk into an arcade and play Donkey Kong, but if you really wanted to be obsessive about it, you could try to memorize the patterns to get as high a score as possible. (Yeah, I just watched King of Kong.) There weren't "casual" games or "core" games, there were just video games and the difference wasn't in what game you played but how you played it.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
I'm going to fifth this or whatever. This game deserves every mention it gets.
See that huge lumbering creature? After searching for it across a lonely wind-swept world with only your sword to guide you, you will cling to it's fur, scale it like a mountain while it tries to shake you off, and then stab it to death with a sword. All on a PS2 in wide-screen and progressive scan.
The Ico team will do amazing things with the PS3. For the first time they will be nearly un-hindered by technology.
It was solid, sure but then again, so was PacMan.
I mean, you could have a game and call it "THE AMAZING ROTATING HUNDRED-SIDED POLYHEDRA!". You can rotate it or even zoom in or out!
Portal is a footnote.
I hated how they removed the ability to practice in the 2nd one. Hell, you couldn't even properly train your throws in the 1st one.
Otherwise, lets get sweaty!
Mentioned, but that ain't enough. Undoubtedly one of the most adult and engaging RPG's ever released on the PS 1, Tactics offered depth in plot and gameplay that most designers wet themselves dreaming of. I've replayed this game countless times, clocked hundreds of hours, and still find myself wondering if I can do a solo run with a mediator Ramza.
Characters that stick with you. Delita was so well done. Orlandu was the epitome of hardcore. Wiegraf was compelling, and Zalbag always sticks out in my mind. I always loved the fact that you walked around with a complete encyclopedia of characters and events that constantly updates with character's ages and the consequences of your battles.
The job system is fantastic. If you combine five characters in an active party and combine that with the twenty jobs available, and then factor in all the different and often useful abilities you can buy; you find yourself staggered by how unique you can make your group, and how the game can always accommodate your playstyle.
Brilliant. If my PS2 hadn't lost its backwards compatibility, I'd probably be playing it right now.
Mutant League Football: This game was clearly a labor of love. It's immature, violent, and surprisingly deep for its time. Winning the Blood Bowl was quite an achievement, but you'd be laughing the whole way through it. "Just like smashing a souffle with a sledgehammer!"
FIFA '99 (PC): This iteration was the pinnacle of the series for me. It made good use of my Voodoo3, had ridiculous customization, added compelling gameplay improvements, and had a bitchin' soundtrack (Scott Hardkiss?!). I stopped playing soccer sims after FIFA '01 though, so I might have missed another stellar footy sim.
Die Hard Arcade: yes, it's impossibly ugly today, but when I think of "gameplay," I immediately think "Die Hard Arcade. The game is like great quickie sex--thirteen minutes of pure, primal pleasure. It shoved Virtua Fighter mechanics into an arcade beat-em up. Taking down an enemy often went something like this: Pick up an industrial broom, beat a terrorist over the head with it. Pick up his dropped gun, empty 12 rounds in his direction, then throw the empty gun at him. While he's reeling from THAT onslaught, charge him, tackle him to the ground, and then pound your fist through his skull four times before he throws you off. Jump at him and double-fist him, then piledrive him while his friends watch in stunned amazement. Also lots of fun was shooting a buck-and-change boy into the opposite wall with an anti-tank rifle.
Another thing that impressed me about Die Hard was that even though it was an arcade game, it was purely skill-based. If you were good enough, you could beat it without using a continue. I borrowed a friend's Saturn for a month and beat this game every morning before I went to school. It set the tone for the rest of the day. The graphics haven't aged well at all, but the gameplay is absolutely timeless.
Tribes 2: The game itself, ignoring the myriad technical difficulties, has yet to be bested by other contenders. When a group of players who sufficiently understood the game got together, epic battles always resulted. No other game has so skillfully combined three-dimensional action, sprawling levels, vehicular combat, and diverse class-based gameplay. My best gaming moment ever was an all-night, 24-man LAN devoted exclusively to Tribes 2.
Team Fortress 2: I pined for the glory days of Tribes 2 for years before TF2 came around. While I still maintain a faint yearning for jetpacks and airdiscs, TF2 leaves no time for such nostalgic pangs. Its action is tight and quick. Strategy is dynamic and emergent. The graphics are fantastic and engaging without trying to be virtuoso. The classes have distinct gameplay styles, and very balanced strengths and weaknesses. The regular updates prove the developer's dedication to the game, and add depth to a product that is already perfect. For example, while playing a Pyro on a payload map, if the cart is far away from a checkpoint, I will use the backburner and wreak havoc in the midfield. However, if the cart is near a checkpoint and my team has a solid defense set up to guard it, I switch to the leafblower and use it to disrupt enemy ubercharges. I'm also one of the few people who, when defending a CP map like Gravelpit or Steel, will switch to a scout when time is about to run out and run behind enemy lines to distract the offense from their mission of capping the point. It's one of the few games where no man is an island, and the probability of winning is directly proportional to the ability of a team to work together.
How do you say this deserves the label of "Perfect Game"? I understand loving it (sort of) for the artstyle and story but the camera is fucked and the framerate is terrible. When you wish the game would appear on a different console presumably to iron out the technical issues it has, then it isn't a Perfect Game.
Final Fantasy VI
Chrono Trigger
Resident Evil 4
Fatal Frame 2
Shadow of the Colossus
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Super Mario 64
Jade Empire
Dragon Quest VIII
Bioshock
I'm sure I'm forgetting a few, but that's a start. Also, I had a wall of text written up for each game expounding its virtues, but it got deleted and I'll be slapped with a turtle before I go to the trouble of typing it all out again.
OMG OPINIONS ARE MADNESS
Half Life 2: This game is so much fun, I couldn't say anything that hasn't been said before.
God of War: Satisfying combat, Buckets of Gore, TITS. That is how you make a good game.
No - that's not an acceptible answer, if I can't question someone's choices then it becomes nothing but a poll thread and those are dull (and not allowed). There are a ton of games that I love and consider must own games, but cannot be called perfect because they have very easily noticed issues/flaws.
SOTC cannot be labelled perfect because it has huge flaws in the camera and framerate. If I suggested Mario Sunshine, I'm sure a ton of people would point out that the camera in that game would immediately make it not earn a "perfect" label (among other reasons). I'm not saying SOTC isn't a great game, I'm saying it can't be considered in a list of gaming perfection because it has flaws that many other games during the same console cycle didn't have.
Read a news report that said they've spent about 200 million on upkeep and maintenance for the game - over the past four years - while they make about 100 million a month from the game.
Anything by Blizzard would definitely be close to perfect game for me.
XCOM. Because when a pixellated DOS strategy game can actually make you jump with fear, you know it has reached some sort of timeless perfection.
If it weren't for Relic's inability to balance games, Company of Heroes would be another pick, but alas.
I would say that Braid is absolutely the height of perfection in gameplay, but the story could use some work. Although the integration of story with gameplay is brilliantly done, especially in the last level, and is something other games could stand to learn from. Regardless, as far as gameplay goes, Braid was always presenting you with challenging puzzles that you could solve through experimentation and analysis of each world's new system. Brilliant.
Then there's no such thing as a truly perfect game, because all games are limited by the technology of the time, and technology is always progressing. There's no perfect technology. You can always have better framerates, higher resolutions, better looking textures, more enemies on-screen, better AI, etc.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
Well, if you're determined to question it, then you're doing so for a stupid reason. Also, you spelled acceptable wrong. But I think you're missing the point of the thread - it's not here so we can argue about how MY GAME IS MORE BEST or PFFT THAT GAME SUCKS ASS, but instead so that we can talk about what was awesome about the games we loved the most.
I'd say that for a lot of people, framerate doesn't even come into consideration as to whether or not a game can be considered perfect. I know for me it certainly doesn't. Besides, SOTC is in my list of favorite games and I honestly never noticed the camera/framerate issues you mention. I was too immersed in the amazing game world to notice or care. But yes, OMG OPINIONS is an acceptable answer, and the only one that really counts, because that's what this damn thread is about. Your qualifications are not the same as everyone else's.
Also, your username is Lindsey Lohan, and therefore I don't have to listen to anything you say.
edit: and to quote the OP:
The counter to this argument would be that if it had truly been perfect, they would have scaled down the lighting etc to get the framerate higher.
The counter to that argument is shut up, that's why.
There's way more problems with SoTC than the framerate anyway.
I like this argument.
ALL HAIL MULTIFARIOUS