On Tuesday, November 21, 2023 at 8:42:23 AM UTC-8, Spalls
Hurgenson wrote:
BONUS Justisaur's picks round! With critique of Spall's choices.
2004 Half Life 2 - Technically revolutionary, o.k.
World of Warcraft - I'll give you this one, popularized MMOs
significantly morethan they were. Didn't really do anything
revolutionary though. CoH was far more memorable and a hell of a lot
better to me, but seems to be a bit niche. Also if WoW is here, EQ
should've been earlier.
2004 BONUS Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Yeah not as important as
either of the above, but it felt like the first modern RTS that
brought the game from the tabletop to the computer in an actually fun
way. My score - A.
2005 Psychonauts - fun little game, but really it was similar to
a thousand other console games before it, don't think it makes the
list. It's well loved and funny, but it also is very consolized
and I wouldn't even put it in the PC game category.
F.E.A.R. - I don't know enough to really comment on it, seems to have
been a technically revolutionary game. I suppose I should play it
and find out.
2005 BONUS - Civilization IV - yeah it came out in 2005. o.k. I'm
cheating a bit because this seems a very bad year. - C or D.
2006 Half Life 2 Episode One - Essentially a DLC? Really?
Civilization IV - wrong year, but, it's just another Civ isn't it?
Well I don't know, not into Civs.
2006 BONUS - Fallout 3 - This should be at the top of this year. It's
remarkable for a number of reasons. A large(er) company buys the IP
from a long dead franchise and successfully ressurects while updating
it, when has that ever happened?!? Went from turn based isometric to
FPS with an innovative pause and rpg aiming for the slow of twich.
Kept a good deal of the weirdness and humor. It sure is memorable.
Possibly an S for me, definately an A.
2007 Bioshock - o.k. I guess, it just didn't grab me *shrug*
Portal - This belongs here for sure in the #1 slot.
2007 BONUS - Mass Effect - start of a franchise, best of them in my
opinion, when's the last space action rpg, really brought this genre
back. A. Alternately Crysis.
2008 The Witcher - belongs in 2007. I don't really see why this is on
the list. Yes it's a good fantasy RPG (with horrendous combat) I
suppose being forign?
Left 3< 4 Dead - I can see why this is here. Really brought a lot of
people to the squad survival horror genere.
2008 BONUS - Spore - Very popular alien evolution sim. This far more
deserves to be on the list than Witcher. A - You thought I was going
to say GTA IV didn't you?
2009 Braid - Eh a puzzle game I barely even heard about.
Mirror's Edge - platforming, innovative I hear, but a novelty at best.
2009 BONUS - Borderlands - Weird psycho cell shaded over the top nuts
FPS with classes and loot randomization and random squads that
started a franchise and possibly the loot style. I don't see how you
skipped over this for the other two, this had very lasting effects
and was one of the funnest games of the decade let alone year. A. I
can't even tell you how many times I finished this.
2010 Amnesia: Dark Descent - Don't know enough to comment and there's
a lot to choose from, but not much of import.
World of Tanks - Deserves to be here, started this style of game.
2010 BONUS - Super Meat Boy - Is this the start of the 8 bit
retrogaming? Sadly I haven't even played it. D. I'm tempted to put
FO:NV, I didn't really enjoy it, but did finish it.
2011 Minecraft - Yeah, this really hits the mark.
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - I really don't see what Skyrim adds to
anything, other than it's probably the best of ES games. But then I
don't really think ES games are very good, I just tollerate them for
lack of better RPGS.
2011 BONUS - Duke Nukum Forever - o.k. not really, but it was such a
laughing stock and meme for so long, probably the most infamous game
of all time. As you could guess that's a D.
I really want to put Dark Souls here as it hits all the boxes far
harder - started a franchise and a whole copy-cat industry, and even
things just similar in some way earning the moniker 'souls-like'.
However it was first a console game, and it does show.
2012 FTL: Faster than Light - Is this the first "Rogulike?" I can't
determine that, but if so then it deserves it. If not I'm
questioning why it's here.
Eurotruck Simulator 2 - :P
2012 BONUS - Diablo III - More for infamy again in their 'innovation'
of a real money markteplace. At least I thought the in game money marketplace was a huge improvement over trying to trade over boards,
but I seem to be alone in that, and they were both dropped. It was
fun at least.
2013 DOTA2 - Another I don't know enough to talk about, just never
looked like my kind of game. I assume fame for the type of game it is. Dishonored - I'm not sure what this brings? Steampunk? Not tht there's
much else deserving.
2013 BONUS - Assassin's Creed Black Flag - It had actually fun pirating
and swashbuckling which is more than I can say for any other pirate
game, too bad it was saddled with AC. Like I said not much else
deserving this year.
I agree with stopping at 2013, further and it's not classic anymore.
Frankly I don't think any of these have reached 'classic' even.
** My definition of what a 'classic game' is includes the
following qualifications:
a) it's fun
Subjective, and you leave out what other people think is fun, and
include what others don't (*cough* EtSim *cough*) There's many there I
don't particularly think are fun
b) it is memorable
Subjective.
c) it is technologically advanced (for its time)
Crysis should be on the list then, or is that actually advanced, and
just a hog?
d) it adds new features or gameplay to the genre
e) it introduces or popularizes a genre
f) it is a key franchise for a developer that has
had significant influence
Ok, makes sense.
'Classics games' don't need to tick off ALL of these
boxes (well, except maybe for the first) but should
have at least three or four of them.
Quite a few don't tick off that first box for me.
Don't take my critques and choices to seriously, I had to really
stretch some this time.
- Justisaur
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