General Videogame Thread

[City_Sean]

The other day on Game Rankings or one of those sites that aggregates scores, Zelda became the highest rated game of all time.

Just seen that it now has more perfect scores on Metacritic than any game in history and will end up.as the most critically acclaimed game of all time there too.

For a new game that's a console launch title that is phenomenal

Keeping my eye on my local Argos for any new stock. Can you get any other Zelda games on the switch such as Twilight Princess?

 

[che_don_john]

The other day on Game Rankings or one of those sites that aggregates scores, Zelda became the highest rated game of all time.

Just seen that it now has more perfect scores on Metacritic than any game in history and will end up.as the most critically acclaimed game of all time there too.

For a new game that's a console launch title that is phenomenal

I always take the reviews of official or affiliated magazines and websites with a pinch of salt (always inflated when a game is a console exclusive), but that aggregate score and all the other reviews are hard to ignore.

Does anyone know how the WiiU version holds up? I will end up owning with both the WiiU and Switch eventually, but for the time being I can't justify forking out for a Switch just for one game, and the WiiU is much cheaper now.

 

[Machiavelli]

What if Link had army fatigues, an AK47 and night vision goggles! Would that appeal more?

 

[Machiavelli]

I always take the reviews of official or affiliated magazines and websites with a pinch of salt (always inflated when a game is a console exclusive), but that aggregate score and all the other reviews are hard to ignore.

Does anyone know how the WiiU version holds up? I will end up owning with both the WiiU and Switch eventually, but for the time being I can't justify forking out for a Switch just for one game, and the WiiU is much cheaper now.

I've just hacked my Wii U and got Zelda for nothing using "Wii u USB helper".
Folk need to remember the switch is a handheld, there isn't much difference between the switch and the Wii u version.

 

[Tricky Dickys Right Foot Shot]

Zelda?

It's the best game ever made. In fact it's not even close. People will still be talking about this in 25 years like they do with Ocarina.

Like a puppet on a string! Played into Nintendo's hands like everyone else!

It's a very good game but not revolutionary, and the only people who talk about Ocarina are Zelda fans or people comparing other Zelda games to previous Zelda games.

When witcher 3 came out not one person in the professional business said "but it's no Ocarina" or made any comparisons, and I say professional because there were probably Nintendo and Zelda fans out there that genuinely believe Ocarina was an amazing game! Again, it was very good game like this current Zelda game but nothing revolutionary.

 

[Tricky Dickys Right Foot Shot]

What if Link had army fatigues, an AK47 and night vision goggles! Would that appeal more?

Stable 30 fps would be a start tbh! Even then 30 fps hurt my eyes after awhile! Probably why I struggle to play on consoles And prefer the PC.... Well that's one of the many reasons

 

[Damocles]

Like a puppet on a string! Played into Nintendo's hands like everyone else!

It's a very good game but not revolutionary, and the only people who talk about Ocarina are Zelda fans or people comparing other Zelda games to previous Zelda games.

When witcher 3 came out not one person in the professional business said "but it's no Ocarina" or made any comparisons, and I say professional because there were probably Nintendo and Zelda fans out there that genuinely believe Ocarina was an amazing game! Again, it was very good game like this current Zelda game but nothing revolutionary.

Ocarina is considered one of the most revolutionary games of all time and regularly tops "Best Game Ever" lists by critics and non-fans alike. In fact it IS considered the best game of all time on metacritic.

 

[citytill1die84]

Ghost recon is fricking huge the map is enormous.

 

[80s Shorts]

Ocarina is considered one of the most revolutionary games of all time and regularly tops "Best Game Ever" lists by critics and non-fans alike. In fact it IS considered the best game of all time on metacritic.

I was entranced by that game. Many moons ago.

 

[Metalartin]

Like a puppet on a string! Played into Nintendo's hands like everyone else!

It's a very good game but not revolutionary, and the only people who talk about Ocarina are Zelda fans or people comparing other Zelda games to previous Zelda games.

When witcher 3 came out not one person in the professional business said "but it's no Ocarina" or made any comparisons, and I say professional because there were probably Nintendo and Zelda fans out there that genuinely believe Ocarina was an amazing game! Again, it was very good game like this current Zelda game but nothing revolutionary.

Agreed it's clearly a good game but it has to be said video games journalists are pretty much all hipsters not wanting to go against the status quo too often.

You can predict what games they will fawn over just from a look a game is given without even playing it(even if it turns out to be not that good it will get lots of extra points). There's games that have been vastly more innovative that got far less attention maybe because they don't have Nintendo or other Japanese brand affiliated with it. Don't get me wrong the Japanese games industry is great(plenty of favourites from there) but it's what I said about that fanboy snobbery and pretentiousness(to the point where they are dismissive of anything else... "oh it's got guns has it and a "macho" character?... no thanks that could never be good")... it's like they want to show they are different and cool yet they are constantly wanting others to reinforce and give validity to their opinion like their ego is attached to it. Reminds me of that member-berries thing they are running with on Southpark where the crux is that nobody seemed brave enough to say the new Starwars film wasn't actually as good as the hype made out.

OOT was obviously a good game but clearly gets extra points for being a big Nintendo game, the first Zelda game in 3D, along with the usual nostalgia points. If you really did play it for a good few hours and found yourself bored not wanting to continue you're not wrong in saying you found it overrated(same with any game) they will predictably say it's your fault though... "you've not played it right/you're not worthy... have to play it till you get it/convince yourself it's the best game ever" if that's not a prime example of pretentiousness I don't know what is. It all depends on your expectations and requirements not everybody's will be the same for example some people will want a game to be fun and engaging from the off, others may like a slow burner that grows on you, neither side is wrong(and that extends to all the different aspects, from the gameplay to the aesthetics to the story).

 

[Damocles]

Agreed it's clearly a good game but it has to be said video games journalists are pretty much all hipsters not wanting to go against the status quo too often.

You can predict what games they will fawn over just from a look a game is given without even playing it(even if it turns out to be not that good it will get lots of extra points). There's games that have been vastly more innovative that got far less attention maybe because they don't have Nintendo or other Japanese brand affiliated with it. Don't get me wrong the Japanese games industry is great(plenty of favourites from there) but it's what I said about that fanboy snobbery and pretentiousness(to the point where they are dismissive of anything else... "oh it's got guns has it and a "macho" character?... no thanks that could never be good")... it's like they want to show they are different and cool yet they are constantly wanting others to reinforce and give validity to their opinion like their ego is attached to it. Reminds me of that member-berries thing they are running with on Southpark where the crux is that nobody seemed brave enough to say the new Starwars film wasn't actually as good as the hype made out.

OOT was obviously a good game but clearly gets extra points for being a big Nintendo game, the first Zelda game in 3D, along with the usual nostalgia points. If you really did play it for a good few hours and found yourself bored not wanting to continue you're not wrong in saying you found it overrated(same with any game) they will predictably say it's your fault though... "you've not played it right... have to play it till you get it/convince yourself it's the best game ever" if that's not a prime example of pretentiousness I don't know what is. It all depends on your expectations and requirements not everybody's will be the same for example some people will want a game to be fun and engaging from the off, others may like a slow burner that grows on you, neither side is wrong(and that extends to all the different aspects, from the gameplay to the aesthetics to the story).

I bought it based on a review by Chris Schilling in EDGE who I can assure you is neither a hipster nor somebody who toes the line to fit in. He's a City fan too, but more importantly I agree with most of his reviews as I did with Zelda.

Can you name any of these games that received little attention despite their innovation?

I'm not suggesting that people's opinions are wrong, but there IS an objective quality to games as an art form whether you like it or not. Ocarina is better than Superman 64 objectively just as the Mona Lisa is better than my lad's drawings objectively. Technical quality exists.

Playing OOT now and not rating it is beyond pointless. It's like watching Citizen Kane and complaining about the lack of visual effects. All art is released as a commentary or response to its timeframe and it is judged by that. Experiencing 5 new generations of development then going back and saying "well I don't see what the fuss is about" is patently absurd.

Luckily, we do have a place which collates reviews from the time they were written which looks at many different outlets across the world. Here's some comments:

I could rave about every aspect of this game, from the ingenious and extremely intuitive battle engine, to the mind-boggling puzzles, to the overwhelming number of side quests, to the interesting and deeply constructed storyline. Instead I'm just going to tell you two things.

First, if you have an N64 and you don't have this game, go buy it. If you don't have an N64 or this game, go buy both. This is, without a doubt, one of the all-time greatest games made. 50 years from now people will still be playing and enjoying this game... thoroughly

That's from GameShark

The only problem you may have with Zelda is the difficulty in finding a copy. Chances are with the holiday shopping season in full force, you’re going to have to get on a waiting list if you want the game.

But if that’s what it takes, run out and get on that list. This Zelda adventure will undoubtedly withstand the test of time and take its place as one of the best games to ever grace a home system.

That's from the newspaper the Cincinatti Enquirer

There is absolutely no question about it. Ocarina of Time is the best game on the N64 and we can't think of any game that we'd rather play on any other system.

That's from IGN.

People have been waiting a very long time indeed to play The Legend Of Zelda: The Ocarina Of Time. After that kind of build-up, very few games are actually able to meet everyone's expectations. Case in point, this very issue; Turok 2. It's good, but it's not quite the knockout that people had anticipated.

Zelda, on the other hand, not only meets every expectation you had of it, but actually exceeds them. When it comes to what people will now demand of a top videogame, Nintendo has moved the goalposts off the pitch, into a lorry, down the road, into the airport, onto a plane and halfway round the world to a different continent entirely.

And we could go on - all of these reviews were written on release in 1998 by respected journalists or game reviewers. These people weren't Japanophiles nor were they looking through nostalgia tinted glasses. They were just able to recognise a masterpiece when they saw one.

There';s this ridiculous sort of cross between cynicism and arrogance that people have now that tries to denigrate anything that's a popular opinion. "Oh well it couldn't really be that great if it didn't blow me away so there must be some other reason like all journalists are bent or something". There's nothing wrong with the journalists or their opinions. Ocarina was a genre defining masterpiece that is considered the highest rated game of all time. The new Zelda is challenging it for its title. This is happening regardless of what you personally think about it.

 

[twosips]

Imagine people actually believing Ocarina of Time wasn't revolutionary back then. Fuck me. It changed the games industry as we knew it.

I tried to get my missus into OoT recently and she simply couldn't get it, and tbh, as Damo said its perhaps cos it does feel a little simple now - even when i play it as a fan i get that vibe too.

However, she went and played Windwaker HD and fell in love with it immediately. Is it really any surprise that a game that basically borrows exactly all the same mechanics but had a refined/slicker presentation that improved on all the things Ocarina set in place then felt better and more accessible to her? A game that was released way back in 2002 yet it STILL feels modern? It's cos all those things that Ocarina set in place, and then Windwaker then perfected, still are relevant even to this day and are still pretty much utilised by every game maker, 15 years later.

The Ocarina template changed gaming forever, cos it was that good.

 

[Tricky Dickys Right Foot Shot]

Ocarina is considered one of the most revolutionary games of all time and regularly tops "Best Game Ever" lists by critics and non-fans alike. In fact it IS considered the best game of all time on metacritic.

Not being funny but even Tetris was considered the best game ever even in the late 90s... game critics are like movie critics, for example Rotten Tomatoes, one of the most well recognized movie critiques, currently has the wizard of oz (1939) as the best movie ever with the highest positive ratings!
I've bought some of the worse games I've ever played based on critical reviews from professionals (the most recent being I Am Setsuna) because they base their reviews on how pretty a game looks or how nostalgic a game can make you feel!

 

[Tricky Dickys Right Foot Shot]

Agreed it's clearly a good game but it has to be said video games journalists are pretty much all hipsters not wanting to go against the status quo too often.

You can predict what games they will fawn over just from a look a game is given without even playing it(even if it turns out to be not that good it will get lots of extra points). There's games that have been vastly more innovative that got far less attention maybe because they don't have Nintendo or other Japanese brand affiliated with it. Don't get me wrong the Japanese games industry is great(plenty of favourites from there) but it's what I said about that fanboy snobbery and pretentiousness(to the point where they are dismissive of anything else... "oh it's got guns has it and a "macho" character?... no thanks that could never be good")... it's like they want to show they are different and cool yet they are constantly wanting others to reinforce and give validity to their opinion like their ego is attached to it. Reminds me of that member-berries thing they are running with on Southpark where the crux is that nobody seemed brave enough to say the new Starwars film wasn't actually as good as the hype made out.

OOT was obviously a good game but clearly gets extra points for being a big Nintendo game, the first Zelda game in 3D, along with the usual nostalgia points. If you really did play it for a good few hours and found yourself bored not wanting to continue you're not wrong in saying you found it overrated(same with any game) they will predictably say it's your fault though... "you've not played it right/you're not worthy... have to play it till you get it/convince yourself it's the best game ever" if that's not a prime example of pretentiousness I don't know what is. It all depends on your expectations and requirements not everybody's will be the same for example some people will want a game to be fun and engaging from the off, others may like a slow burner that grows on you, neither side is wrong(and that extends to all the different aspects, from the gameplay to the aesthetics to the story).

Exactly!

I wouldn't be surprised if there's a large percentage of people who played OOT and enjoyed it but preferred other games around that era like Final Fantasy or even Metal Gear Solid....

Final Fantasy great example of how I don't buy into hype... as a huge fan of Final Fantasy I can unbiasedly say that FFVII is massively overrated, a good game with some features that helped FF evolve over the following 5 years, but it's nowhere near the best of the lot. However the remake will come out, a large majority of FF fans will cream over it and critics will most likely give it 9s/10, because nostalgia.

 

[Tricky Dickys Right Foot Shot]

Imagine people actually believing Ocarina of Time wasn't revolutionary back then. Fuck me. It changed the games industry as we knew it.

I tried to get my missus into OoT recently and she simply couldn't get it, and tbh, as Damo said its perhaps cos it does feel a little simple now - even when i play it as a fan i get that vibe too.

However, she went and played Windwaker HD and fell in love with it immediately. Is it really any surprise that a game that basically borrows exactly all the same mechanics but had a refined/slicker presentation that improved on all the things Ocarina set in place then felt better and more accessible to her? A game that was released way back in 2002 yet it STILL feels modern? It's cos all those things that Ocarina set in place, and then Windwaker then perfected, still are relevant even to this day and are still pretty much utilised by every game maker, 15 years later.

The Ocarina template changed gaming forever, cos it was that good.

OoT changed Zelda, not general gaming, just like Final Fanatsy 7 changed FF and not general gaming.

OoT was released during a period where a lot of great games for competing consoles (and PC) were released, MGS for PS and Baulders Gate for PC two prime examples.

The difference is these games had to compete with other great games on platforms that continue to this day to pump out great games, yet these two games are still remembered by millions!
OoT although a very good game, is remembered as the best N64 game which had Goldeneye and Mario Kart as it's main rivals.

 

[BimboBob]

I bought it based on a review by Chris Schilling in EDGE who I can assure you is neither a hipster nor somebody who toes the line to fit in. He's a City fan too, but more importantly I agree with most of his reviews as I did with Zelda.

Can you name any of these games that received little attention despite their innovation?

I'm not suggesting that people's opinions are wrong, but there IS an objective quality to games as an art form whether you like it or not. Ocarina is better than Superman 64 objectively just as the Mona Lisa is better than my lad's drawings objectively. Technical quality exists.

Playing OOT now and not rating it is beyond pointless. It's like watching Citizen Kane and complaining about the lack of visual effects. All art is released as a commentary or response to its timeframe and it is judged by that. Experiencing 5 new generations of development then going back and saying "well I don't see what the fuss is about" is patently absurd.

Luckily, we do have a place which collates reviews from the time they were written which looks at many different outlets across the world. Here's some comments:



That's from GameShark



That's from the newspaper the Cincinatti Enquirer



That's from IGN.



And we could go on - all of these reviews were written on release in 1998 by respected journalists or game reviewers. These people weren't Japanophiles nor were they looking through nostalgia tinted glasses. They were just able to recognise a masterpiece when they saw one.

There';s this ridiculous sort of cross between cynicism and arrogance that people have now that tries to denigrate anything that's a popular opinion. "Oh well it couldn't really be that great if it didn't blow me away so there must be some other reason like all journalists are bent or something". There's nothing wrong with the journalists or their opinions. Ocarina was a genre defining masterpiece that is considered the highest rated game of all time. The new Zelda is challenging it for its title. This is happening regardless of what you personally think about it.

If someone says they don't think it's the best game of all time then that's their opinion. Why is this wrong? That's your trouble Damo, you wade in, stating that your opinion is fact, riding rough shod over other people.

OoT was and is still a very good game. Best ever? Not for me. But that's my choice. I think Goldeneye was a better game on the N64.

 

[quiet_riot]

I bought it based on a review by Chris Schilling in EDGE who I can assure you is neither a hipster nor somebody who toes the line to fit in. He's a City fan too, but more importantly I agree with most of his reviews as I did with Zelda.

Can you name any of these games that received little attention despite their innovation?

I'm not suggesting that people's opinions are wrong, but there IS an objective quality to games as an art form whether you like it or not. Ocarina is better than Superman 64 objectively just as the Mona Lisa is better than my lad's drawings objectively. Technical quality exists.

Playing OOT now and not rating it is beyond pointless. It's like watching Citizen Kane and complaining about the lack of visual effects. All art is released as a commentary or response to its timeframe and it is judged by that. Experiencing 5 new generations of development then going back and saying "well I don't see what the fuss is about" is patently absurd.

Luckily, we do have a place which collates reviews from the time they were written which looks at many different outlets across the world. Here's some comments:



That's from GameShark



That's from the newspaper the Cincinatti Enquirer



That's from IGN.



And we could go on - all of these reviews were written on release in 1998 by respected journalists or game reviewers. These people weren't Japanophiles nor were they looking through nostalgia tinted glasses. They were just able to recognise a masterpiece when they saw one.

There';s this ridiculous sort of cross between cynicism and arrogance that people have now that tries to denigrate anything that's a popular opinion. "Oh well it couldn't really be that great if it didn't blow me away so there must be some other reason like all journalists are bent or something". There's nothing wrong with the journalists or their opinions. Ocarina was a genre defining masterpiece that is considered the highest rated game of all time. The new Zelda is challenging it for its title. This is happening regardless of what you personally think about it.

So glad you're back.

 

[che_don_john]

Not being funny but even Tetris was considered the best game ever even in the late 90s... game critics are like movie critics, for example Rotten Tomatoes, one of the most well recognized movie critiques, currently has the wizard of oz (1939) as the best movie ever with the highest positive ratings!

Well, you could argue that it still is, or at least that it is in the top 5! There is not a single thing you could change about Tetris to improve it.

Yes, it's far simpler than the likes of Half Life, Bioshock, OoT, RE4, etc, but it is almost objectively perfect in terms of what it sets out to do, what it achieves and how there is almost no room for improvement, even now. They did try to improve it many times and each iteration came nowhere close to the original.

But I do take your point. Games move on and many titles which were absolute gems at their time of release don't always hold up well by today's standards (but maybe we've just become accustomed to better controls and graphics, open-worlds, online play, etc?). I'm a retro collector and use to occasionally write features for websites and magazines; often I'd find that going back to play some of the old games for a critical perspective ended up killing the nostalgic feelings I had for them when I realised they weren't as good as I had remembered (Altered Beast is the prime example - great at the time, woeful by today's standards).

 

[Tricky Dickys Right Foot Shot]

Well, you could argue that it still is, or at least that it is in the top 5! There is not a single thing you could change about Tetris to improve it.

Yes, it's far simpler than the likes of Half Life, Bioshock, OoT, RE4, etc, but it is almost objectively perfect in terms of what it sets out to do, what it achieves and how there is almost no room for improvement, even now. They did try to improve it many times and each iteration came nowhere close to the original.

But I do take your point. Games move on and many titles which were absolute gems at their time of release don't always hold up well by today's standards (but maybe we've just become accustomed to better controls and graphics, open-worlds, online play, etc?). I'm a retro collector and use to occasionally write features for websites and magazines; often I'd find that going back to play some of the old games for a critical perspective ended up killing the nostalgic feelings I had for them when I realised they weren't as good as I had remembered (Altered Beast is the prime example - great at the time, woeful by today's standards).

Majority of games today are rated by standards 20 years ago, the difference being 20 years ago they were original, so games released this year may be lower rated than they would have been 20 years ago (if that makes sense)... BOTW has been given outstanding scores, but I imagine when given these scores they've been compared to previous Zelda titles, so essentially it's rated the best Zelda game ever, yet however it's easy to misinterpret this as the best game ever.

Judging something as the best anything ever is all about personal preference:

best footballer genuinely comes down to Messi or Ronaldo...
Best film genuinely could be any of the top 5 most popular films you can think of...
The same goes for games, which are now becoming some of an art, I actually think it was Kojima who said that eventually books, films/tv shows and video games will merge into one source of entertainment.

 

[Danamy]

Mass Effect Andromeda looks mint