Critical Acclaim +: Open Mic

[Sly Reflex]

Some people really treat it like a second coming. It's is a totally amazing game but some people have elevated it to god status. Is that clearer?

[Craymen Edge]

I think it's a fantastic game. It's a wonderful example of pacing, writing, and efficiency of design. There's really very little in there that's not in service of the gameplay, or supporting the story and atmosphere. The way you start out knowing nothing, and slowly figure out what's happening through the environment, and the excellently written and performed GLaDOS voiceover is awesome.

It's one of the stand outs of the generation for me.

This expresses a lot of what I'm on about much better than I can: http://j-u-i-c-e.hubpages.com/hub/Portal-and-Game-Design

[Sly Reflex]

Should I bump these updates to 1 a day instead of 1 every 2 days? How do people feel about that?

[radiofloyd]

Sure.

[spatular]

i like portal, i think it deserves the critical acclaim. pretty much like everyone has already said, funny, new/different/interesting/good puzzles, good song, and companion cube. cant't really think of anything bad to say about it really.

[Hendo]

I'd say it's pretty close to perfection as a game can get!

[Sly Reflex]

New game time. Resident Evil 2.

[HandsomeDead]

I loved it at the time. I had it on PlayStation but I'm fairly sure I later got or rented the N64 version, too, which had the most compressed FMV I have ever seen. It was like a really, really old JPEG file. That's all I remember of that.

But anyway, must have played through this game dozens of times. Having the two different scenarios to play through is a master stroke and really added replay-ability which really should be adopted more, and it had some awesome monsters; the Lickers being something fairly iconic now, I think.

But I've not played it since the end of those 90s so I can't remember exact details about it, and I also wouldn't want to play it now as it only took me 15 minutes of playing the GC remake recently and I had to turn it off so I could keep nice memories of it in my head. I'd say RE2 would be the same.

[radiofloyd]

Not played Resi 1-3 yet but Kotaku have a nice article on games with pre-rendered backgrounds:

http://kotaku.com/video-games-with-the-most-memorable-pre-rendered-backgr-499808427

[DANGERMAN]

I think at the time it was an improvement over the first game, a pretty significant one at that, but I don't think any of the old style Resident Evil have aged all that well. That said by RE2 people were already complaining about the camera and controls.

What I will say though was that the first time I played it was in black and white as my tv couldn't handle the 60hz refresh of the import, it really added to the throw back feel of it, probably made it creepier than I found it when I played it in colour too

[Sly Reflex]

I think at the time it really moved goalposts. Yeah, it had it's problems but it was still the best at what it did. It's my favourite game in the fixed screen games. I liked how the paths sort of crossed a little, I really apriciate that whole sliding doors sort of mechanic where you are sort of sharing puzzles with the idle player. I wish more games played with this idea.

However, I don't think it RE2 stands up today. The core Resident Evil series straddles that era where 3D was in it's infancy and therefore had a lot of teething problems. I now Nag loves the old tank controls, but they're just not a feasible option anymore. It might have been a titan game in it's own time but I don't think it'd be playable for most knowing what we know now.

[Sly Reflex]

OK, one a day from now on.

Final Fantasy VII. Go and blow your load. Or complain. Do whatever. I don't care. It's your life.

[radiofloyd]

VII was the last of the PS1 games I played, in fact I think I played it in 2003 which would put it after FFX and Kingdom Hearts. Anyway, I absolutely love it, although not as much as VIII and IX.

The entire first disc is just one iconic scene after another, for me anyway. The timeless theme music, the slums, the market, on to Junon, the Gold Saucer, Cosmo Canyon, Nibelheim, Rocket Town, the Temple of the Ancients, Caith Sith's sacrifice...

[Bob]

Where to start? In terms of nostalgia and shit no game will ever be more important to me. I played it as a young un when it came out and it pretty much created who I am as a gamer today. It gave me my love of stories in games, my love of JRPGs and that cyberpunk aesthetic which was reinforced by the movies and anime of my childhood. Take pretty much any element of FFVII, put it in a game and I will love it.

Undoubtedly some aspects of it have dated now. Mainly the mini games in Gold Saucer which at the time felt like full games in their own right. I spent so much time snowboarding down that hill having my mind blown. Now each time I play through it and I am forced to play that section it is just a series of swears and laughter at how amazingly bad it is. However, the meat of the game, the battle and materia systems and story still stand strong in the current JRPG market.

Death is a very easy thing to cover in story terms I find but to have it effect the player the way it did in this was a bold move and one that I don't think many games have done since. I never bothered with her but I remember my bro had her as a main party member and to see all that hard work undone in a second was pretty devastating. I find that scene very powerful but I don't remember my initial rreaction to it. It is just feels like one of those things I have always known. Kind of like trying to remember how you felt the first time you found out Darth was Luke's father. It is just something every nerd knows.

Man, I am gushing. I might stop. For me anyway it is absolutely perfect. As a formative game of my childhood and as a modern experience it is just something I never get sick of playing or telling people about how awesome it is. I also killed the weapons for the first time a few years ago and it is probably (shamefully) the happiest moment of my life.

[HandsomeDead]

Final Fantasy VII. Where do you even start?

I can start with the game-y stuff. That Materia system is ingenious which is both accessible and open to a whole lot of customisation, especially when it comes to pairing them up for support abilities. While I think I like Tactics' level up and ability learing system that little bit more I do still think that Materia system is awesome and whole lot of fun to tinker with.

Plus, you have the Limit Break system (which may have originated in an earlier game, VI maybe, but I can't remember) but it works really well here and looks great. Yes, I still like the way FFVII looks today. I think there is a lot of character in those animations. The simple exploring characters that progress the story look simple and communicate emotions well, much like a smiley and frowny face is very efficient at communicating emotions. And then you have the cool battle stuff, which looks cool with brightly coloured attacks and stuff.

So at its core it plays as a great, interesting and ultimately fun JRPG.

But it's the story and stuff that sticks out in a JRPG and, again, I think this stuff is great in FFVII. Obviously, there is the Aeris stuff which I surely don't have to spoiler tag, right? If you haven't played it at this point then you probably don't want to. So it turns out Aeris is Luke's Father.

It's a neat moment when you find out Aeris is Luke's father because because she is your healer before this point so even if you didn't connect to much with her then when she goes to be Luke's father you do still miss her; you feel the loss through the narrative and gameplay. Well done for pulling that off, I say.

But there is so much more than Aeris being Luke's Father. One of my personal favourite bits is Barret's side story when he goes back to his hometown and later runs into Marlene's real dad, Dyne (must admit, I had to go to google for his name). There's a line in that section where Dyne says "My hands are too dirty to hold Marlene now" after he massacred a bunch of people in a weird rage. It's corny and melodramatic, but that's Final Fantasy VII, and that's why I like it as a whole.

And you also have Cloud, who is probaly one of the most misread characters in gaming. He has a reputation as being "emo" but he changes so many times during the duration of this game. What makes him pretty cool is that he isn't just an amnesia trope, they have woven this self delusion into the mix that gives it a different spin which I don't think I've seen before in any story... actually, maybe I have, but I'm struggling to put a finger on it.

Anyway, what I think it does is that Final Fantasy VII is probably the best example of the unreliable narrator in games with Cloud. Heavy Rain has it too, but that just dupes you, it's not as well done as it is in FFVII. While Cloud isn't a great character, the character progression he goes on throughout the game due to his delusion is an interesting journey. There are times he is "emo", there are times he holds it together to lead the group, there are times he's funny and there are times he totally falls apart.

If I were to describe Final Fantasy VII it would be "taken for granted". It does so many great things that so many overlook.

I still think it plays well now and I don't think it needs remade at all. Actually, if I were to remake it all I would do would be to add analogue controls so you don't look stupid zig-zagging around the environments. But that's it, 'cos that game works as is.

[radiofloyd]

Great comments. There was a lot of detail in the story and locations of VII. All the PS1 FFs had a wonderful melancholic atmosphere.

If memory serves, FFVI's "Limit Breaks" happened at random when you were low on health and pressed the attack button (not like in VIII where you could actually select Limit Break from the menu). They were very rare in VI though, I think I only ever saw one a few times.

[Sambob]

I loved things like the little hidden stuff you could find if you read between the lines. Vincent for example, everybody's best weapons, the black chocobo, and so on. This is basically what me and my mates spent half a year being consumed by, and the same with VIII when that came out. I think it definitely benefited from being one of those games that was in the right place at the right time, it was such a fashionable game back then, largely due to the stuff it does right of course, but it really rode the crest of the wave that was around when it came out.

[HandsomeDead]

I am disappointed to impress nag, so time to talk about Sephiroth.

He has cool weeaboo hair and pretty green eyes and he has a massive sword O M G he is awesome.

But seriously, he is a good villain. What is neat about him is he leaves this trail of destruction when you're following him so throughout the entire game he is this omnipresent force of evil. It's made better with that flashback you have where you're young Cloud assisting him and he just cleaves through everything, and seeing that first hand on his side, you don't really feel like going against him.

He's a good radge bastard of a villain.

[RoboticMonk3y]

I like 7, I also really enjoyed 9, I didn't like 8 at all, and lost interest in 10 and everything after.

I've not played anything earlier than 7 either, so I can't really comment on if it's the pinnacle, but I really did like 7...

[HandsomeDead]

That disappoints me almost as much as your love of Resi 4... well done, ser.

I aim to disappoint, just ask my mother.