Home
PC version."
Also, Shane is so so wrong on Mario World vs Mario 3, but he's always such a fun person to hear argue the most inanely trivial things. :D"
However, I'm able to seperate the character creation process from the character development in the actual game - in most games the customization is purely a matter of physical appearance, which I can accept as having next to no bearing on how the character will be interacting with the game world. There are exceptions, of course, but by and large the lack of connection I feel with custom-created characters compared with pre-defined ones is something I attribute to the open-ended design of most games that feature in-depth character customization options (non-linear western RPGs, MMOs, etc) rather than just because the character is created by me."
HoMM 3 and Civ IV are both choices I can definitely agree with, but I don't think there is any game that I enjoy more in hotseat/local MP mode than Worms 2 or Armageddon."
And while Muramasa had its flaws, it's such an amazingly gorgeous game that I can't help but love it."
And PS3."
Raychul mentioned that she thinks most Final Fantasy fans are people who stick with JRPGs... I don't think that's true, but not necessarily because of their gaming tastes have shifted greatly. The fact of the matter is that there just has not been anywhere near as many good JRPGs this generation (except on handhelds, but that's kind of a different audience). FFXIII was the first JRPG I actually finished this generation, and almost every one of my friends who have had an interest in JRPGs have played it too. But most of them, like me, have also played plenty of games of other genres since then.
Someone (Aaron, I believe it was?) asked the question of why make the same games over and over again... that's got to be a rhetorical question, right? I mean, has he looked at the sales chart lately? Madden... Call of Duty... Halo... [big-name-high-profile online FPS of your choice]... Guitar Hero... these are the runaway successes of recent memory. Is it really surprising that the same types of games are kept being made?
And finally, games with "soul". And despite what I said about Aaron at the start, I agree with him unequivocally on Ico. Whenever people talk about the best games on each console, I often find myself having trouble picking a clear number 1. Yet for all the amazing games that came out on the PS2, I have no such problem - it's Ico. The world was both beautiful and surreal, the level design was fantastic, and most of all, the way it managed to convey a story, develop a blossoming relationship between Ico and Yorda that I truly cared about, and to do it all with no (intelligible) dialogue, was just astonishing. The game was hardly a very long one, but the 7 or so hours I spent playing it is one of those experiences Shoe mentioned, where you almost wish you could go back and experience it anew all over again, because it was just that amazing.
Another game that you guys touched briefly on, and which I absolutely say does have soul, is Super Mario Bros. 3. I mentioned that I could definitively name the best game on the PS2... the NES might be the only other console that I can say the same for, and SMB3 is it. The things that SMB3 did well are fairly obvious - precise platforming controls, varied worlds, great level design, etc. But as far as I'm concerned, it being a game with soul really comes down to one aspect - the power-ups. I still maintain that no game before, or since, has had a better collection of power-ups, and I would be amazed if any ever did. Learning to fly as Racoon Mario, swimming (or more amusingly, jumping on land) as Frog Mario, turning into a statue as Tanooki Mario, becoming basically invulnerable as Hammer Bros. Mario... every single new power-up in SMB3 was unique, fun, and charming. And then there was the Kuribo Shoe. They made a special, and completely optional, power-up that was only available to use in one level in the entire game! If a game like that can't be consider to have "soul", then I honestly don't know what does.
And finally, one more game with "soul". Portal. It's a game that's recent enough, and universally acclaimed enough, that I don't think much in the way of explanation is required. And judging from the way the various aspects of the game has become internet memes, I don't think it's unfair to say that many would agree."
