The most interesting games from console generation 7 (Wii, 360, PS3, PSP, NDS, PC)

[Icemage]

Now that the curtain is about to close on this generation of consoles, I thought it might be interesting to see what games have made you really sit up and take notice in the past seven years. This doesn't have to be games you love, or your particular favorite games. I'm talking about games that sort of lit up your imagination when you played them, or gave you a glimpse into the future of gaming that you'd like to see more of.

Some ground rules: Only games that appear on Wii, 360, PS3, PSP, NDS, or released on PC between 2005-2013 should be mentioned. Significant remakes/reboots are fair game (X-Com Enemy Unknown), but re-releases and HD versions (Shadow of the Colossus HD, Ocarina of Time 3D) are not. Games that just do things well but are just polished versions of things we've seen before (Uncharted) don't belong here either.

Granted, we still have about a year left of life on the PS3 and 360, but I doubt Microsoft is releasing anything else for the Xbox 360 at this point, and Sony's going to stop after Beyond: Two Souls / Puppeteer / The Last of Us / Rain. I'm almost certain we don't have any more surprises left, unless maybe Atlus releases Persona 5 on PS360 or something.

For me, the games that stood out the most for me in this past half a decade or so:

The World Ends With You (DS)
One of the rare glimpses of Square-Enix's talent when they aren't bogged down in HD douchebaggery, chasing DLC dreams or unnecessary fanservice. Great use of the DS two-screen setup on top of an excellent game. Arguably the best and certainly one of the most unique titles to grace the DS.

Rock Band (PS360)
Who knew it could be so much fun to play along with your favorite music in local or online multiplayer? Having a living room cluttered with plastic instruments was a small price to pay. It's also one of the very few game franchises to ever do DLC the right way. Weekly optional releases that aren't necessary but aren't cosmetic either.

Grand Theft Auto IV (PC, PS360)
I'm not actually a fan of GTA4, but it was the first time I ever felt like a video game environment was a living, breathing city. The fact that I hated having people constantly "call" me in-game because it left less time to just wander around and absorb the environment speaks volumes about how impressed I was at what Rockstar achieved.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PC, PS360)
I may hate Activision with the heat of a thousand suns these days, but COD4 was one of those once-in-a-generation games that really changed the entire industry. There's really nothing to dislike about it - it has an excellent and well constructed single player campaign, wonderful multiplayer, and lots of innovations (XP, unlocks, perks).

Heavy Rain (PS3)
Sure, it's flawed, but I adore the choose-your-own-adventure game flow that doesn't stop if you fail and get someone killed. The Walking Dead tore some excellent pages from its playbook.

Demon's Souls (PS3)
A pioneer of crowd-sourcing in-game hints. The gameplay is awesome (and very difficult), the atmosphere is incredible, but I think the player created hint runes are the most interesting multiplayer feature to come along in a long time.

Minecraft (PC, Xbox 360)
It's a game about LEGO, without the need to collect thousands of expensive plastic bricks. What's not to like?

Journey (PS3)
Truly one of the most spectacular forms of "multiplayer" I've ever seen. More games need to learn from its example of how to really drill down and make people behave the way you want to by design. Also helps that it's beautiful in every way, both visually and acoustically.

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
Leave it to Nintendo to show that you can innovate without creating new IP, if you're good enough at innovating. It stumbles in a few places (underwater levels), but there's so much clever level design here that had never been seen before.

Catherine (PS360)
Another fascinating multiplayer-in-single-player mechanic. Using polling to track player responses when there are no "right" or "wrong" answers is a very cool way to design a game.


Icemage

[Malacite]

Re: The most interesting games from console generation 7 (Wii, 360, PS3, PSP, NDS, PC

Heavy Rain (PS3)
For the character detail and amazing interaction with the environment and cast - really felt like an interactive movie.

Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3)
A great conclusion to a masterfully crafted mind-screw. The gameplay wasn't necessarily the best of the bunch, but the game had such a strong narrative I really felt like it showed up Kojima's brilliance and PS3's potential.

Valkyria Chronicles (PS3)
I still say it's the most beautiful game I've ever seen, and there hasn't been anything quite like it since. It's a shame 2 and 3 were made for PSP and had to ditch the moving-water color-painting art style... also one of the few games to handle racism in a powerful yet tasteful manner.

Borderlands 2 (PC, PS3, 360)
If nothing else, for proving that you can in fact, combine FPS with Action-RPG elements. Between the staggering amount of weapons, pop-culture references and quests, it's just such an awesome game and I'm stoked for 3. I didn't play the first game, but there's no way I'm missing BL3. Also one of the rare games to still have split-screen co-op

Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii)
I'd be remiss if I didn't include what I feel has been the single best RPG this generation. Really my only gripes with the game were the Wii's terrible graphics and being limited to 3 party members, but otherwise it was everything Final Fantasy XII should have been and more. While I'm not crazy about Nintendo owning Monolith Soft for hardware limitations, I am glad they're allowing them to make gems like this game - I just hope it won't be like pulling teeth to get the next one released in North America like it was with Pandora's Tower, The Last Story and this.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (PC, PS3, 360)
2 words; Unprecedented Destruction. BFBC2 was the game that got me hooked on the franchise. I'd heard of it before, but never really seriously gotten into it until I tried the multi-player. The campaign was very goofy and not that memorable (though the cast was amusing) but it's the MP that really sold it - surprisingly, even BF3 didn't have anything near the level of destruction capable in BC2. By the end of most games, you'd be looking at a veritable wasteland; Almost everything could be blown to itty-bitty pieces. I'm hoping BF4 will bring a return to this, as BF3 was sorely disappointing in this regard.

MAG (PS3)
While it wasn't the greatest game ever, MAG was the first and only console FPS to ever boast a whopping 256 players. Coupled with a persistent online war, it really felt like an epic struggle. Too bad Zipper just couldn't hold it together. In many ways though I feel like it was a precursor to Planetside 1 & 2 (in terms of the scale - most FPS games are limited to 16 or 32 players).

Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty (PC)
Ever the pinnacle of competitive gaming, WoL was a masterful return to form for Blizzard. A solid campaign with an entertaining cast and plot, it was everything you'd expect from a Blizzard game (unlike Diablo 3...). However, again it's the Multi-player that's the main attraction here. Before League of Legends really took off, SC2 was at the heart of the E-Sports scene and has done a lot to help promote E-sports as a thing. There are now "Barcraft" events all over the world, and Heart of the Swarm has again renewed interest. League of Legends may be the most popular, but SC2 is by far the most difficult and competitive online game there is ​bar none.


EDIT:

Bioshock Infinite (PC, PS3 360)

Elizabeth is the shining example in a sea of garbage of just how good an AI partner can truly be if a developer puts in the time and effort. Her dialogue is extremely well written, she's helpful in oh so many ways in combat, She's very pretty ^_^ and best of all, you don't have to babysit her. That last point gets the most attention because it's the sticking point with virtually every escort quest in any game, or when you have AI buddies - having to make sure they aren't derping on you and/or getting themselves killed. Not our Lady Liz! She finds you money, health, salts (mana), even weapons and picks locks (and one other nifty thing that's spoilers so I'm omitting it, suffice to say BEST NPC EVER WTF!)

And finally, the game gets extra points for having the balls to be so overtly racist and sexist; Whereas Ubisoft completely pussed out on Assassin's Creed 3 to the point of utter disbelief, Bioshock Infinite doesn't even try to hide it - just the opposite. It fully embraces that "good old folksy racism" with some of the most offensive propaganda posters (and other mediums) I've ever seen lol... and it's not doing it just for the sake of being offensive though; Like Valkyria Chronicles, it's for the sake of historical accuracy and driving home a point about serious issues and the prevalent culture at the time.

I think the "sky clansmen" are my favorites though... lol did NOT see that coming.

[cidbahamut]

Re: The most interesting games from console generation 7 (Wii, 360, PS3, PSP, NDS, PC

Bastion: Probably the best use of voice-over narration I've ever encountered. It was well integrated without being overbearing and I'd like to see more of that. Not more voice over narration necessarily, but just more of that level of execution. It was very well thought out.

Super Meat Boy: While it's an excellent platformer and has good art direction, one thing that stood out was the instant replay feature. Whenever you'd finish a level, you'd immediately be treated to a play back of all your attempts to complete the level simultaneously. It provided a fascinating analysis of one's own mistakes and strengths, a visual representation of your progress through a sadistic level.

Duke Nukem Forever: Before you get all up in arms, I'm putting this one here because it serves as a good illustration of how game design has changed over the years. For me it was just very interesting to see all the different layers over the years on display in varying degrees. I doubt we'll see anything that offers as much contrasting insight again any time soon.


Honestly there haven't been too many games in the past several years that even register on my radar. I blame the changing market, my shift in tastes and MMOs.

[Firewind]

Re: The most interesting games from console generation 7 (Wii, 360, PS3, PSP, NDS, PC

I will try to avoid posting stuff that others have already posted unless I have a good reason. Anyway here it the list of the Ten Most Interesting Games from Generation 7:

Persona 4 (PS2) - Art direction, Imagination, Tackling mature subject matter
Yes it was a PS2 game but it belongs on the list regardless. It is considered by many to be one of the best JRPGs in recent memory and has won near universal acclaim and a ton of rewards for a "niche" game. The fact that is cemented the SMT franchise into the West's mainstream also helped a lot. It has been called the PS2's last great game, while a very subjective statement, it is definitely a candidate.

Also, unlike other SMT games, it is so happy that its colour theme is bright yellow. Seriously, Persona 4 is quite possibly the most upbeat and positive game about murder ever made. It also tackles a number of themes like sex, sexuality, existentialism, human nature, Mass Media, Mass Hysteria, isolation and what it takes to find one's self in a pretty mature manner considering the party are a bunch of hormonal, highly immature and emotional teenagers that actually act like you know...Teenagers.

Valkyria Chronicles (PS3) - Art Direction, Innovation, Imagination, Tackling mature subject matter
Quite possibly one of the best looking games of last generation. It tackles racism, genocide and the holocaust in a pretty surprisingly mature and well handled manner for a Japanese game developer. While 2 and 3 handled the more mature issues a lot better and were a lot well written and/ore better executed, this game is the first in the series and the one that really sparked the interest of those who were fortunate enough to play this.

Saint's Row 2 (PS3/360) - Fun Factor
While GTAIV was the first to bring the whole Sandbox thing to Generation 7 and while Red Dead Redemption and GTAIV was a lot more fun for multiplayer, Saint's Row 2 kept that one thing that GTAIV lacked: Chaos. The game is truly chaotic and like the older GTA games makes no attempts to taking itself seriously whatsoever. GTAIV tried to be gritty and realistic and just simply lacked the charm that the previous games had. Saints Row 2 on the other hand goes in the opposite direction and doesn't so much as take refuge in audacity but makes it its home. The amount of frankly silly things you could do purely for the fun of it.

Saint's Row 2 belongs on this list because it remembers the most important thing that a game needs: fun.

Minecraft (PC) - Fun Factor, Imagination, Community, Cultural Impact
I think enough has been said about Minecraft already but I'll give why I think it should be on the list: it is simple to pick up and never stops being fun. Mojang created one of those games that proved that you don't need photorealistic graphics to have a beautiful game and you don't need twenty different variations of Slayer Mode when simply unleashing the player on a world where the only restriction is their imagination works fine. Multiplayer made things even better, Adventure maps and building entire cities together with your friends provided hours of fun and the massive modding community means that the game will never run out of content as long as there are people playing it.

Skyrim (PC/360/PS3) - Art Direction, Fun Factor, Imagination, Community, Cultural Impact
You know what? Fuck it this belongs on the list. Why:
1) The game is fun and unleashes players into a well made sandbox where there is literally a dungeon to explore or bandits to fight at every turn.
2) The game is beautiful and will be one of those games like FFVI that will still look great nearly 20 years on.
3) It truly brought RPGs into the mainstream and not just that, it cemented the Elder Scroll franchise into the Japanese mainstream, something that NEVER happens with Western RPGs.

Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum (DS) - Future: Online play on handhelds, Fun Factor, Community
I really wanted to put up Black/White 1&2 but then I realised why this should go onto the list first: Wi-Fi. For the first time ever you could battle and trade over Wi-Fi and you really could Catch Them All with just one console and copy of the game...Unless you lived in Europe, then you were fucked and could never get event Pokemon without creating your own GTN server or hacking the game. I could go on forever about all of the game balance changes and features as well but the most important thing to remember is that it brought Online Play to Pokemon and it showed the viability of Online Features on handhelds. Now such a thing is commonplace thanks to this game. It didn't bring Online Play to handhelds first, but it definitely solidified it in the minds of gamers as a glimpse into the future.

Company of Heroes (PC) - Innovation, Community
Dawn of War 2 got more acclaim and had more awards and sales but this game is still played more often and is well loved. First of all it did away with the traditional "Build base, rush units to counter the other guy's faction" dross that the majority of Warcraft clones had done. The base building in minimal and instead the games are won by map control and overall strategy rather than your micromanagement ability or how many actions you can spam in a minute. You had realistic (for a game) suppression mechanics and the ability to have units fall back. You also has a very limited limit to the number of units you could call in meaning that "build orders" went out of the window because you actually needed to scout out and see what your opponent was making and where he was in order to work out what you needed to call in to help.

The game also took into account things like cover: leaving units out in the open was just begging to get them slaughtered and had a number of different concepts such as combined arms (sending in tanks without infantry and artillerty support would just mean you lose those tanks) and also made units VERY expansive to buy so it was always prudent to keep them alive and have them retreat, rather than losing them.

You could also turn losing games around, something you could NEVER do in Starcraft. Panzers blowing up your Infantry? Call in Paratroopers to take his Fuel Dumps or disrupt his supply lines so losing that Panzer will mean he can't replace it. Losing control of the map? Find a choke point and build up Machine Gun, AT Gun and Mortar emplacements to hold off the onslaught so you can counter attack. Opponent winning but overextending before he can control the map? Prepare an ambush or even swing in some units for a pincer attack.

Anyway why does this belong on the list of "Interesting Games"? It took many outdated and ancient mechanics and threw them out of the window to create something truly unique in the RTS market with a massive tactical and strategic depth. It is a rare example of true innovation in the video game industry.

Bastion (PC probably out on consoles too) - Art Direction, Imagination
This game is a great example of a "Videogame as Art". The visuals and aethetics of the game along with the excellent voicework with the narrator having a response for nearly everything reminds me a lot of the old Lucasarts Point and Click adventure games in execution. It basically came out at a time when Indie Gaming was just getting into the mainstream and there really wasn't anything like it despite it being published by a major publisher (Warner Bros). Basically it belongs here not just because of it being a shining example of a video game as art but it also proved that even the major publishers can see a real diamond in the rough when they see one.

DOTA2 (PC) -Cultural Impact
I'm probably going to have people wanting to both lynch me and have sex with me for posting this in a "Most interesting games" list. Basically to keep this one short, it belongs on here for the same reason Icemage listed CoD4. It is a fun multiplayer game, the previous game basically made the Tower Defence genre mainstream and spawned the entire MOBA genre, both games thrust e-Sports into the mainstream and had a huge cultural impact to boot. It is also a very deep and complex game where no two games will ever play the game. There's also a lot of lore in there, the game looks beautiful and there's excellent voice acting. And the entire game is free showing that the free to play model is sustainable (since I doubt Valve would let it become a money pit).

Fighting is Magic (Unreleased) - Future: Volunteer Development and Crowd Funding
Wrapping up with something that isn't even out yet but it is interesting to watch the development nonetheless. basically it went from a Fan Project of a fighting game based on My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic because the first thing you think of when watching cute cartoon ponies is "Wow this would make a great fighting game!". The game went on with some excellent music made and purely fan based development...Until Hasbro broke out the lawyers and the game was shut down.

But not quite as the developers gained the support of Lauren Faust, the current Executive Producer of Friendship is Magic and not only did she throw her support behind the project, she also offered to design six new characters for the new game that wouldn't make Hasbro go Lawful Evil on their arses. Not just that but the Skullgrils developers got involved and following a Kickstarter drive, GAVE Mane6 (the development team for Fighting is Magic) their game engine free to use to for Fighting is Magic.

Why is this an interesting game? It's a glimpse into the future to show that volunteers and crowd sourcing can combine to make an actual game. While Katawa Shoujo did the volunteer thing first, Fighting is Magic proves that it can be done even with Hasbro unleashing the lawyers.

Honourable Mentions:
Rock Band (Innovation, Fun)
Katawa Shoujo (Volunteer Development)
Terraria (Imagination, Fun)
The Secret World (Innovation, Community)
Mass Effect 3 (Fan demand getting a story change)
Persona 4 Arena (Art direction, Region Lock Controversy)
Final Fantasy XIV (Release)
Bioshock (Art direction)
Recettear (Imagination)
Forza Motorsport 3 (Future: Taking on GT at their own game)

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: The most interesting games from console generation 7 (Wii, 360, PS3, PSP, NDS, PC

Considering I found this to be one of the single most disappointing generation of games since Atari and its competitors nearly destroyed the marking, there's not a lot I can throw in here that hasn't been said already, save for the glaring omissions of the following:

Muramasa: The Demon Blade - Its just a beautifully hand-drawn game bursting with colors that would put most HD games to shame. While a bit repetitive, its range of weapons, replay value and art direction are all very strong points and it even soundly beats out the ambtious Okami, which had dull color by contrast. This game looks like a vibrate watercolor painting at times and anyone that doesn't pick up the rerelease on PS Vita is missing out.

Fallout New Vegas - While not without its bugs, it felt more like a proper Fallout game than FO3 did. It might not be as large in scale, but it had a better density of content, a stronger cast and own deeply some of the NPCs in this game are developed - particularly companion NPCs - is just staggering. Obsidian is a studio that gets a lot of shit, but when it comes to writing they have Bioware soundly beat and design a more compelling world than Bethesda sometimes does. Your choices matter in the grand scheme of things and even the gay characters you happen upon don't feel like they were as shoehorned it as Bioware's efforts. They felt natural rather than shoehorned in for a marketing point.

Persona 4 - The best RPG of last generation and the one it ended on. Not much to say beyond what Firewind said.

Fire Emblem Awakening - Hands down the best JRPG since Persona 4. The story on its face is generic as all get out, but this is a game that has such strongly-defined characters and a great number of them that I can't help but be amazed this was a Nintendo game at times. Story and strongly-defined characters aren't usually what I come to Nintendo for, but the combat and characterization of this Fire Emblem made me even want to know the fate of my own created avatar - she got to be that big a part of the story and I'm glad she wasn't as faceless as some custom protagonists are prone to being. This is the sort of RPG we used to love Square-Enix for.

Deus Ex Human Revolution - I guess its not all bad on SE's end. When they bought up Eidos, they wanted Deus Ex to be the priority and damn it showed. Eidos Montreal not only rebooted the series with style but gave us its best installment to date. Its just a dreary and depressing world and yet I can't help but want to keep coming back to it Totally down for the Wii U version when I get a Wii U. I want this game on everything.

MGS Peacewalker - MGS4 is a game I really never want to play again. While its heavy focus on cutscenes did make sense as far as tying up loose plot threads went, it still broke up the gameplay really bad and made it feel smaller than MGS2 and MGS3 in scale. Peacewalker's more open-ended structure delivers all the story that's needed and allows for repeatable mission that invite compulsive collection and replay without feeling grindy. Add to this that even human sub-bosses can be taken down by non-lethal means and it feels like a true evolution of Metal Gear and i look forward to seeing how it influenced the design of MGSV: The Phantom Pain.

Portal - Don't really need to explain that.

Cave Story - While it is an old freeware game, it found a new lease on life with the Nintendo Wii, DS, Steam and 3DS and its a charming little Metroidvania-style game. that everyone should play at least once.

No More Heroes - Suda 51 has been quite busy this generation, but No More Heroe and No More Heroes 2 are his standout efforts from this gen. If Quintin Tarantino made a video game, I have a feeling it might be a lot like this, except its built out of a love of gamings history more than it is a love of movies - though it does have a little movie influence. Its also one of of the game that while deliberately foul and oversexualized, more than makes up for it with its absurdly detailed and interesting cast. In many ways, NMH was a commentary on the obsession with gaining fame through the lens of being a video game hero and NMH2 is more about the consequence and fallout of that fame. Its refreshing when a game so potty-mouthed, gory and horny can actually have something something to say.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - People gripe about its reuse of levels, but I find that to be one of its stronger points in how it shows how well those levels were designed so that they could be repurposed in so many ways and still be fun. As with Fallout New Vegas, its more important that the game have a density in content than more of the same content in a shiny, new area. It also had the best story I had seen in a Zelda since Majora's Mask and Wind Waker and I like how it redefined the Zelda canon just a bit more than Ocarina of Time did.

Catherine - Not so much for its neat online polling as presenting what may be the single most emotionally mature game of the generation. Yes it has its anime antics and a fantastical side to it, but the way it explores sexual relationships and the age of its cast balances that out to great effect. Vincent Brooks may be the biggest loser and most selfish protagonist in a game and to see him either overcome that or find the honesty to admit his desires and find the right life for him without hurting other is something we could stand to see more of rather than simply good and evil choices. Vincent's actions in the end feel genuinely spoken. The puzzle side of the game is delightfully Donkey Kong Country hard and Shoji Meguro may have been at his least creative with the soundtrack here, but then, it takes a very special composer to take these bits of classical music and repurpose them in a rock opera fashion. I don't know if he picked up classical tunes as a nod to Tetris, but it suited the game's action perfectly all the same.

There's more but I'll have to think about it.

[Firewind]

Re: The most interesting games from console generation 7 (Wii, 360, PS3, PSP, NDS, PC

I added tags to my list to sum up why I picked each game for those that just want to skim over the thread.

[Armando]

Re: The most interesting games from console generation 7 (Wii, 360, PS3, PSP, NDS, PC

Braid, for its rewind puzzles and aesthetics. Mighty Switch Force, for its clever block-toggling puzzles and mechanics. Both games squeeze a lot of gameplay out of a relatively small number of simple but profound game mechanics, similar to Portal.

Jamestown, for turning bullet hell into a 4-player co-op endeavor.

Left 4 Dead/2, for its immersive, non-scripted co-op and asymmetrical VS mode.