Ten games that changed my life
Recently, a colleague of mine was tagged on Facebook in something called "Ten games that changed my life". To be honest, even though I can't exactly be called a "gamer", I still think that listing 10 games that changed your life is very little considering the amount of games that I have played. He kinda tagged me to do the same, but I just knew I would just go on ranting about each game on the list, so I justified my choice not to do it with the reason "every game that I played changed my life a little". Still, even though I think it would be only fair that I listed the 10 games that caused the biggest impact in my life. I will have to leave several games out of my list, like Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Team Fortress 2 and the Musou series, but I'll try to give the listed games a reason why they made it to the list.
Also, notice that the following game do not necessarily represent my "favorite games". I mean, I do like them a lot, but I'm listing them for their importance and influence in my life.
10. Batman: Arkham CIty taught me that games based on comics may be actually very good
I was never really a big fan of comics or games based on comics. Mostly because I never played any comic-based games (other than Marvel vs. Capcom 3). I did see my friend playing X-Men games on Super Nintendo and even got to play Spider Man for the PSOne, which I traded with my ex-boyfriend, but no game ever caught my attention as strongly as the Arkham City game. To see that a comic-based game can be so deep and loyal to the original series, but at the same time telling a different story is great.
9. Spec Ops: The Line taught me that adult themes can be portrayed in a mature way through games
Very few games left me as disturbed as Spec Ops: The Line. In a generation that seems to be somewhat numb to the violence of war games and military shooters, playing a game in which you're not the hero and the choices you make through the game gives you no reward actually gives you a different experience. This is the kind of game that should be used as an example for every kind of military-themed media in the world. It treats the soldiers as human beings rather than heroes.
And game-design-wise, it also should be an example for every game that is being released. It makes a perfect use of the video game as a media, as the means to send someone a message. And it does so through the gameplay, without making it easy for the player to figure that s/he has to make a choice. Your choices are not limited to what the game tells you. It's also about what you are NOT told to choose.
I may have mentioned this before, but Spec Ops: The Line influenced me so much that when I was playing Call of Duty: Ghosts, there was a part in which you are holding Rorke's hand, you see a button in the screen telling you to let him go. I wanted so willingly to believe that I actually had the choice not to let him die that I purposely did not press the button, hoping that I could save him. Of course, the game made me fall off the helicopter with Rorke, we both died and I got a Game Over screen. I forgot that games makes us be who THEY want us to be. And sometimes they tags us as something we are not. And regardless of how much we wish it, we can't always be heroes.
8. Soul Edge taught me that games can actually tell us good stories
Back when I had a PSOne, I don't really think I cared about stories in games. I didn't even know there was actually a story behind every game. I just thought that games were interactive medias in which you mash buttons and go through stages. Then one day I decided to go all the way through the game until the final boss and realized that there was a small animation sequence after I had beaten the game and was like "whoa!! Something actually happens with this character!!". After that, I beat the game with every single character, then went for other fighting games and did the same with all the characters. Then, I started to put a couple of games in the console just to watch those animations that were between every stage. I didn't understand a single thing (I was about 12 years old and my English skills were crappy), but started to appreciate those short scenes and started treating them like a "reward" for beating a stage. In a way, I still do it.
7. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 taught me to broaden my horizons for popular triple A games
I have to confess that I have already been part of the troupe that despised all the Call of Duty games. I used pretty much the same excuses as most people do: "The CoD players are a cancer to the gaming community" or "every game is exactly the same, the only thing that changes are the maps and the weapons". Even now, the simple memories of how shallow there thoughts are embarrass me.
I think I have already written about how games may look the same for people who don't actually played and even defended the FIFA games (can you imagine it???). It was only after I decided to dive head-first on the Call of Duty universe that I realized what an awful, single-minded person I was. I may sound a bit too harsh on myself because of a game, but for someone who actually thought about working in the gaming industry, thinking of any game that way is a very bad thing. And CoDMW3 gave me a couple of lessons:
1. Every Call of Duty game is different.
2. Every FIFA game is different.
3. Every NHL game is different.
4. Every Civilization, Street Fighter, Diablo, Tekken, Mortal Kombat game is different.
We shouldn't judge a game just for what we can see. The mechanics change. The way we play games change. The way the games are implemented change. Let's give the producers a bit more of recognition for the games they make. We may not like one genre or the other, but somewhere in the world, someone poured a lot of love in that game.
6. To The Moon taught me that a game can be used to tell a good story (and that it's perfectly possible for a single person to work out an entire game)
I think that this one comes as no surprised for most people. Several indie games are being released with a strong focus on the storytelling rather than the gameplay: Dear Esther, Gone Home, Stanley's Parable (I haven't played any of them, btw), Journey. One would argue that To The Moon would make a great book, but as a game, it's not such a big deal. To be honest, I doubt that either To The Moon and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons would be so good if they were movies/books rather than games. In my opinion, both games demand that you take your time to explore the world around you. You have to have a certain level of immersion in the game so that you effectively understands the message it is trying to convey. At least for me, it's easier to miss small details in movies or books rather than in games and in games like To The Moon it's the small details that make all the difference in the narrative.
5. Suikoden V taught me that there are good jRPGs other than the Final Fantasy series
You may already know, but I was once a Final Fantasy fanatic. I wanted to play nothing other than the Final Fantasy series. Then one day, when I was in college, a good friend of mine starting talking like crazy about this game. I didn't know anything about it back then and, to be honest, I don't really think I wanted to. But then he started to talk about some interesting aspects of the story and I was like "oh, what the hell, I'll just take a quick look at this game". The result: I LOVED it. I got so obsessed with the Suikoden series that I finished Suikoden V twice in a row (and each gameplay lasts over 60 hours), then finished both Suikoden I and II twice in a row, plus Suikoden III (then I got tired of the series because the third game sucks and the forth game is even worse).
Playing the Suikoden series led me to try other jRPGs: Star Ocean, Radiata Stories, Shadow Hearts... I didn't finish any of them but, hey, I did try. And honestly, I still want to dedicate a bit of time for these games.
Any game can be great if you give it a chance.
4. Mortal Kombat 2 taught me to explore the gaming universe
I don't think I ever got so obsessed with a game before Mortal Kombat 2 (the arcade version), and I don't even know why I liked this game so much. Maybe because back then I was just a little kid and there weren't so many options, but Mortal Kombat 2 did have a passable story, a simple design and characters that drew my attention. Oh, also, back then I didn't have a video game console (other than Phantom System) and there was no internet, so I had to be content to just be able to research and watch other people playing the game. It's nice to be interested in aspects of the game other than the gameplay itself.
3. Tekken 2 taught me to leave aside the fear of losing a fight
Wow, that's almost... philosophical. But it's true, when dad got me a PSOne, I was kinda "afraid" of going to Arcade Mode and attempt to beat the CPU, so I mostly just watched him play the game. Then one day he was struggling to beat Kazuya using Law, and told me to give it a shot. I don't know how, but I managed to beat Kazuya in a perfect round (notice that back then we were playing on Easy, with a single round), so he told me to carry on. Ever since, I kinda stopped fearing being defeated. Hell, being defeated is part of the learning process. I'm glad Tekken 2 was the game that made me realize that.
2. Final Fantasy VIII improved my English skills
I don't think I ever played a game consciously before Final Fantasy VIII. Well, actually FF8 was my first RPG ever, so I wasn't really familiar with the way things worked. When I realized that there was a whole world of games that emphasized the story rather than the gameplay, I was in awe. After that, I started to value a lot more games with good stories. Suikoden may be my favorite RPG series, but FF8 was the one game that made me realize that RPGs existed.
1. Shadow of the Colossus taught me to like action games
After I found out about the wonderful existence of the jRPGs, I think I pretty much only played jRPGs and fighting games, never really paying attention to other genres. After I played Shadow of the Colossus, everything changed, and I realized how fun action games can be. The controls are a bit sloppy (okay, actually they are VERY sloppy) and by what I played recently, the game didn't age very well (just like ICO). Nevertheless, the game was very important to me, in the sense that it made me realize that there are games other than jRPGs and fighting games. There are lots of different styles and genres, so regardless of how much you may like one genre or another, why not give other games a chance?
Also, notice that the following game do not necessarily represent my "favorite games". I mean, I do like them a lot, but I'm listing them for their importance and influence in my life.
10. Batman: Arkham CIty taught me that games based on comics may be actually very good
I was never really a big fan of comics or games based on comics. Mostly because I never played any comic-based games (other than Marvel vs. Capcom 3). I did see my friend playing X-Men games on Super Nintendo and even got to play Spider Man for the PSOne, which I traded with my ex-boyfriend, but no game ever caught my attention as strongly as the Arkham City game. To see that a comic-based game can be so deep and loyal to the original series, but at the same time telling a different story is great.
9. Spec Ops: The Line taught me that adult themes can be portrayed in a mature way through games
Very few games left me as disturbed as Spec Ops: The Line. In a generation that seems to be somewhat numb to the violence of war games and military shooters, playing a game in which you're not the hero and the choices you make through the game gives you no reward actually gives you a different experience. This is the kind of game that should be used as an example for every kind of military-themed media in the world. It treats the soldiers as human beings rather than heroes.
And game-design-wise, it also should be an example for every game that is being released. It makes a perfect use of the video game as a media, as the means to send someone a message. And it does so through the gameplay, without making it easy for the player to figure that s/he has to make a choice. Your choices are not limited to what the game tells you. It's also about what you are NOT told to choose.
I may have mentioned this before, but Spec Ops: The Line influenced me so much that when I was playing Call of Duty: Ghosts, there was a part in which you are holding Rorke's hand, you see a button in the screen telling you to let him go. I wanted so willingly to believe that I actually had the choice not to let him die that I purposely did not press the button, hoping that I could save him. Of course, the game made me fall off the helicopter with Rorke, we both died and I got a Game Over screen. I forgot that games makes us be who THEY want us to be. And sometimes they tags us as something we are not. And regardless of how much we wish it, we can't always be heroes.
8. Soul Edge taught me that games can actually tell us good stories
Back when I had a PSOne, I don't really think I cared about stories in games. I didn't even know there was actually a story behind every game. I just thought that games were interactive medias in which you mash buttons and go through stages. Then one day I decided to go all the way through the game until the final boss and realized that there was a small animation sequence after I had beaten the game and was like "whoa!! Something actually happens with this character!!". After that, I beat the game with every single character, then went for other fighting games and did the same with all the characters. Then, I started to put a couple of games in the console just to watch those animations that were between every stage. I didn't understand a single thing (I was about 12 years old and my English skills were crappy), but started to appreciate those short scenes and started treating them like a "reward" for beating a stage. In a way, I still do it.
7. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 taught me to broaden my horizons for popular triple A games
I have to confess that I have already been part of the troupe that despised all the Call of Duty games. I used pretty much the same excuses as most people do: "The CoD players are a cancer to the gaming community" or "every game is exactly the same, the only thing that changes are the maps and the weapons". Even now, the simple memories of how shallow there thoughts are embarrass me.
I think I have already written about how games may look the same for people who don't actually played and even defended the FIFA games (can you imagine it???). It was only after I decided to dive head-first on the Call of Duty universe that I realized what an awful, single-minded person I was. I may sound a bit too harsh on myself because of a game, but for someone who actually thought about working in the gaming industry, thinking of any game that way is a very bad thing. And CoDMW3 gave me a couple of lessons:
1. Every Call of Duty game is different.
2. Every FIFA game is different.
3. Every NHL game is different.
4. Every Civilization, Street Fighter, Diablo, Tekken, Mortal Kombat game is different.
We shouldn't judge a game just for what we can see. The mechanics change. The way we play games change. The way the games are implemented change. Let's give the producers a bit more of recognition for the games they make. We may not like one genre or the other, but somewhere in the world, someone poured a lot of love in that game.
6. To The Moon taught me that a game can be used to tell a good story (and that it's perfectly possible for a single person to work out an entire game)
I think that this one comes as no surprised for most people. Several indie games are being released with a strong focus on the storytelling rather than the gameplay: Dear Esther, Gone Home, Stanley's Parable (I haven't played any of them, btw), Journey. One would argue that To The Moon would make a great book, but as a game, it's not such a big deal. To be honest, I doubt that either To The Moon and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons would be so good if they were movies/books rather than games. In my opinion, both games demand that you take your time to explore the world around you. You have to have a certain level of immersion in the game so that you effectively understands the message it is trying to convey. At least for me, it's easier to miss small details in movies or books rather than in games and in games like To The Moon it's the small details that make all the difference in the narrative.
5. Suikoden V taught me that there are good jRPGs other than the Final Fantasy series
You may already know, but I was once a Final Fantasy fanatic. I wanted to play nothing other than the Final Fantasy series. Then one day, when I was in college, a good friend of mine starting talking like crazy about this game. I didn't know anything about it back then and, to be honest, I don't really think I wanted to. But then he started to talk about some interesting aspects of the story and I was like "oh, what the hell, I'll just take a quick look at this game". The result: I LOVED it. I got so obsessed with the Suikoden series that I finished Suikoden V twice in a row (and each gameplay lasts over 60 hours), then finished both Suikoden I and II twice in a row, plus Suikoden III (then I got tired of the series because the third game sucks and the forth game is even worse).
Playing the Suikoden series led me to try other jRPGs: Star Ocean, Radiata Stories, Shadow Hearts... I didn't finish any of them but, hey, I did try. And honestly, I still want to dedicate a bit of time for these games.
Any game can be great if you give it a chance.
4. Mortal Kombat 2 taught me to explore the gaming universe
I don't think I ever got so obsessed with a game before Mortal Kombat 2 (the arcade version), and I don't even know why I liked this game so much. Maybe because back then I was just a little kid and there weren't so many options, but Mortal Kombat 2 did have a passable story, a simple design and characters that drew my attention. Oh, also, back then I didn't have a video game console (other than Phantom System) and there was no internet, so I had to be content to just be able to research and watch other people playing the game. It's nice to be interested in aspects of the game other than the gameplay itself.
3. Tekken 2 taught me to leave aside the fear of losing a fight
Wow, that's almost... philosophical. But it's true, when dad got me a PSOne, I was kinda "afraid" of going to Arcade Mode and attempt to beat the CPU, so I mostly just watched him play the game. Then one day he was struggling to beat Kazuya using Law, and told me to give it a shot. I don't know how, but I managed to beat Kazuya in a perfect round (notice that back then we were playing on Easy, with a single round), so he told me to carry on. Ever since, I kinda stopped fearing being defeated. Hell, being defeated is part of the learning process. I'm glad Tekken 2 was the game that made me realize that.
2. Final Fantasy VIII improved my English skills
I don't think I ever played a game consciously before Final Fantasy VIII. Well, actually FF8 was my first RPG ever, so I wasn't really familiar with the way things worked. When I realized that there was a whole world of games that emphasized the story rather than the gameplay, I was in awe. After that, I started to value a lot more games with good stories. Suikoden may be my favorite RPG series, but FF8 was the one game that made me realize that RPGs existed.
1. Shadow of the Colossus taught me to like action games
After I found out about the wonderful existence of the jRPGs, I think I pretty much only played jRPGs and fighting games, never really paying attention to other genres. After I played Shadow of the Colossus, everything changed, and I realized how fun action games can be. The controls are a bit sloppy (okay, actually they are VERY sloppy) and by what I played recently, the game didn't age very well (just like ICO). Nevertheless, the game was very important to me, in the sense that it made me realize that there are games other than jRPGs and fighting games. There are lots of different styles and genres, so regardless of how much you may like one genre or another, why not give other games a chance?