Best stand-alone game this generation?

[thestickman91]

Bastion. Fun Gameplay, cool story, amazing narrator and a killer soundtrack
also want to throw a mention for Borderlands.
EDIT: oh wait shit, Borderlands is getting a sequel sorry

 

[Eventidal]

I think Little King's Story would have to be way up there, if not my top pick. It's the kind of game experience you NEVER see a second time, the sort of ingenious design and story wrapped up in a blanket of WTF that you just know can never be replicated. LKS is going to stick with me for decades, in heart and mind. It IS getting a sequel on Vita, but we haven't heard much about it yet, and it's not out. So I still consider LKS to be standalone.

Plus, the new game is ditching the unique style in favor of something I think looks less endearing and overall less interesting. And it's being made by a different studio. I'm already pretty sure it won't live up to the original.

 

[cheese_wizington]

Red Dead Redemption, or Assassins Creed 2. In my humble opinion.

 

[York_Beckett]

Deadly Premonition. No, seriously; It really is that good.

 

[Firetaffer]

Exactly what do you mean 'this generation'?

If we can go back to 1997, than Thief: The Dark Project.

Otherwise uh... I'd go with Bioshock, I thoroughly enjoyed that game even though the second half was nothing to boast about.

 

[Vuavu]

Haha you keep correcting people man... But they're right. Anytime something is called a 'stand-alone ____' it can still be part of a series. 'Stand-alone' just means you don't NEED to play/view/read the other games/movies/books in the series to get the full effect of the individual installment.

EDIT: Also, I'm gonna have to say... Portal? I guess. Haha it's hard to decide on one. But theoretically and logically, that's gotta be it. There are probably a ton of good games that aren't coming to mind right now though.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Okay, I've decided. Sometime when I have more time, I'll go through this list and write down all of what everyone thinks.

 

[Yopaz]

Batman Arkham Asylum (aint got a sequel yet),
Last Remnant (love this since it's a JRPG on the PC).
Can't really think of any more off-hand.

 

[Craazhy]

Red Dead Redemption

 

[DanielBrown]

My condolences to the OP for attracting so many people unable to even read the title of the thread.
Come on, people! What the hell?

 

[cainx10a]

Vanquish and Bayonetta. Can't wait for the next Platinum games, these guys are awesome!

 

[Rockus]

I was a huge fan of Heavy Rain, but then again I'm one of the six people who liked Indigo Prophecy . . . maybe Quantic Dream can hire me just to follow David Cage around and say reassuring things to him.

 

[emeraldrafael]

Catherine comes to mind.

yeah, I'll say that.

 

[GeneticallyModifiedDucks]

Demon's Souls.

While it lasts anyway. Dark Souls is only a spiritual successor but still has a lot in common with Demon's so I guess it counts. So, hey, we've got a few more days.

 

[shadow_Fox81]

Ok so read through the entirety (i hope) and nobody seems to have mentioned it so yeah!

almost nothing i can think of stands alone, a great many titles mentioned all have DLC, patches, Episodic structure or are inherently dependent on comunity and a multiplayer fan base(regardless of how you played it personally).

I would like to say Amnesia but as its both a spiritual sucessor (which seems like a dumb reason for it not to stand alone) and it had extra backstory released so in escence no longer stands alone. I guess even LIMBO didn't as such have any exposition and most reviews I've seen sought out the intro online so even that failed to stand alone(and i get now i'm rocking the boat for rocking's sake).

i guess Portal will be my example because it exists within and stands on its own artistic merit to Portal 2 within a different mindset. I guess its the hobbit contrasted to the LOTR for me, some thing which stands alone does so through artistic merit and distance of thought process to other titles in the franchise(if that makes sense).

i just feel this is better than ruining a great title by making it dependent on a franchise by name and lore.

 

[shadow_Fox81]

Haha you keep correcting people man... But they're right. Anytime something is called a 'stand-alone ____' it can still be part of a series. 'Stand-alone' just means you don't NEED to play/view/read the other games/movies/books in the series to get the full effect of the individual installment.

EDIT: Also, I'm gonna have to say... Portal? I guess. Haha it's hard to decide on one. But theoretically and logically, that's gotta be it. There are probably a ton of good games that aren't coming to mind right now though.

man this guy knows whats on, if only i hadn't taken so long to think of how to phrase it, and find evidence(curse my english literary schooling).

even said portal before me.

i guess its still all peaches and gravy.

 

[Baralak]

The best I could give is a top 5 list, which is, in no particular order:

Bayonetta
Vanquish
Alpha Protocol
Mirror's Edge
Too Human

I loved all of these games, and I'm sad that the only one with a real shot at a sequel is Bayonetta.

 

[KP Shadow]

Well so far I would say Batman: Arkham Asylum. Yes I know it's not exactly standalone, and it has a sequel right around the corner, but you know what? It was such a good game about Batman, that it made everyone think "Why did it take this long to make a good game about Batman? Because, you know, BATMAN!"

If I'm correct, LEGO Batman, which, while not quite as good, was still pretty damn good, came out first.

Also, I'd have to say... Castle Crashers or Minecraft. With Castle Crashers, aside from a few kinks here and there, it's the perfect revival of the arcade beat-em-up genre. With Minecraft, it's sold god knows how many copies before the final game has even come out. That's impressive right there.

 

[Firia]

I would contest your prereqs are to strict.

I haven't invested much thought into it, but I want to say Prince of Persia 2008- now before you go jumping on me about it's a franchise, I'd like to point a few things out. It's a radically different game from it's predecessors, and other than having an otherwise unnamed "Prince," it had almost nothing else in common with the Sands of Time series of games.

The art direction, the flow of gameplay, character development and interaction, right down to the boss battles were all silky smooth for me. I wanted more of the game- in fact when I bought it, I beat it at 100% completion a day before the DLC was released. And you can believe I bought that up in a hurry.

(I really enjoyed PoP Sands of Time, but the ones that followed just didn't fit that same character development, or art direction. I felt like I was reconnection with the franchise with the 2008 game. Shame others didn't feel the same.)

 

[OniYouji]

Up until recently, I would say "999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors". It's getting a sequel now (which it really didn't need at all), so it's no longer eligible...still brilliantly done, though.

Something that probably will not be getting a sequel would be the game Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon. I adored this game. I adored the characters, the setting, the story, the mementos, the style...granted, there were some things that I wished didn't happen or things that I wished happened instead, and not every character was well done, but I still loved the end result and truly wish that more games like it would be made. But I do not mean a sequel, but more games with this focus on more emotionally driving and personal stories.