Games that are Undeniably Great

[Matt Kinol]

I feel that in many mediums there are certain examples that simply cannot be touched by critics. This thread is to discuss which games you think should be (or are) considered to be at a level beyond flaw, or at least where the flaws are insignificant compared to the game itself.

Now, the catch is that I don't want this to be a purely opinionated thread. I'm guessing we all have games that we really like, but recognize are flawed from the greater perspective. For example, I absolutely love Fable, and I have no idea why. I know it is not nearly as good as I give it credit for.

No, this is about the Citizen Kane equivalent of gaming. It doesn't matter whether you liked it or found it boring personally, but if you were to call it an overall bad film, you would just be wrong.

The only games I can think of that qualify are the Half Life and Portal games.

I would like to put Mass Effect and some Mario and Zelda games up there, but I feel like that would be biased. I may be blinded by fanboyism or nostalgia. What do you think?

 

[Miles000]

I would agree with Portal. Half life was good, but I wouldn't say near-flawless.
Dark Souls I would put on that list though. It had a few problems, none of which took from my experience in any way at all.

Edit: Going back a bit here. But Crash Team Racing goes on that list too.
That game was perfect.

 

[Giest4life]

While I agree with your assertion that Half-Life (series) and Portal are some quality, I, tragically, admit that there is no game which "simply cannot be touched by critics"--for I'm the harshest critic a game can find.
Part of my problem is that an game that has a cut-scene is automatically disqualified from being undeniably great. I'm not trying to push my personal criterion for games on anybody, but I will not accept any game in the pantheon of godly games if that game has a cut-scene.

 

[Flailing Escapist]

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmm
ummmmm
ummmmmmmm
um...."
*looks at shelf*
"Bioshock!..
No thats not right."
"Ummmm"
*looks at shelf*
"Farcry 2!"
...
"No, thats not right either.."
*thinks*
...
......
"Wolfenstein?"
...
"Dammit."
...
"Enie meanie minie moe...
It's Fallout 3."

 

[isometry]

Here's a list that records game of the year from several notable publications:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_of_the_Year

The only games I can think of that qualify are the Half Life and Portal games.

I would like to put Mass Effect and some Mario and Zelda games up there, but I feel like that would be biased. I may be blinded by fanboyism or nostalgia. What do you think?

I found Half-Life boring. Maybe it's because I'm a physicist, but nothing about Gordon Freeman or his workplace intrigued me. Aliens, strange scientists, as a setting I found it to be a forgetable mess, like a B movie. I'm not trying to troll here, Half-Life was a total B movie to me.

Mario, Zelda, and Mass Effect are all excellent. SMB3, Ocarina, and ME 2 come to mind when I think of flawless games.

 

[Chevalier noir]

Mass Effect? A critic proof classic? It was an on rails shooter pretending to be a full fledged RPG, the much touted choices in role play boiled down to "pick the blue or red option", none of the decisions the player makes have any real significant impact on the game world at all. Don't get me wrong, it was a very fun on rails shooter with good writing, great characters and nice visuals, but an epic?

I don't want to start a debate here, if that is your opinion then that is your opinion but if you want to have an objective discussion, could you try to put into words why you think it transcends just being very good?

 

[Orks da best]

Halo: Combat Evolved springs to my mind,

gamplay: funs foes to fight, nice slection of fun guns (most op pistol ever in gaming) many tactics can be done in campaign in terms of weapon selection and using the envrioment to your advantage, overall solid gameplay.

Story: eh rather weak when in-game, but in the expanded universe its rather deep, plus great plot twist.

Cultural impact: leads to the birth of machinima via redvsblue, has a active and strong fanbase, and has lead to many changes within the fps genre.

It'll take a lot to convice me that Halo: Combat Evolved is not a undeniably great game.

 

[Soviet Steve]

Modern Warfare 2 was a gleaming jewel in my opinion. Great story, great characters, realistic weapons, and its just like it'd play out in real life. Really cool game, and the online part speaks for itself.

 

[Revnak_v1legacy]

The Paper Mario games!... are very flawed even though they're my favorites. As are the games in my second favorite series, Fire Emblem. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time springs to mind. Its really the only one I'd say that about too.

 

[Thaius]

Crash Team Racing goes on that list too.
That game was perfect.

So true. Also, the story mode was about an alien who challenges Earth to a race, and if they lose he turns their entire planet into a concrete parking lot. Best. Plot. EVER. In all seriousness though, I've never seen a racing game that fun. Not even Mario Kart can touch it.

OT: Unfortunately, any games anyone lists here will be found wrong by someone. I would put on that list:

Halo
Shadow of the Colossus
Demon's Souls
Beyond Good and Evil
Red Dead Redemption
Portal (both of them)
Final Fantasy VI
Chrono Trigger
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Okami
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
And more!

But unfortunately, there will always be a few people saying I'm wrong about these and any other games I could list. I have a friend on Xbox Live who hated Portal because he thought GLaDOS' voice was annoying. That's right; he outright dismissed one of the greatest games ever made because he was annoyed with the voice that made it as great as it was. Ugh.

Point being, there's unfortunately no such thing.

 

[TheGreatAndPowerfulZOG]

Mario. Specifically SMB3 and Mario World.

I disagree with Half Life and Portal. They're good; Half Life is a good action blockbuster, Portal is good clever puzzle gimmick. But going back to them now... It's not the same. Those formulas have been taken and improved.

 

[scorptatious]

Well for me, that would be Shadow of the Colossus and Final Fantasy 9. Neither of those games seemed to have any flaws that keep them from reaching their full potential.

 

[skywolfblue]

No, this is about the Citizen Kane equivalent of gaming. It doesn't matter whether you liked it or found it boring personally, but if you were to call it an overall bad film, you would just be wrong.

...

I've never seen Citizen Kane, but I completely reserve the rights to my own opinions about it. If I were to call it an overall bad film, I'd be right (for me). It doesn't matter what the snooty critics are saying about it, all that matters in the end is my own subjective interpretation of it.


To that end, there is no such thing things as "Undeniably Great" Games/Movies/Music/Etc. It's all subjective opinion. Someone will always hate it, no matter how good everyone else says it is, someone will always love it, no matter how bad everyone else says it is. There is no way to be objective about "an experience", which is what all forms of entertainment always boil down to.

 

[shadyh8er]

Resident Evil 4.

The game that made the over-the-shoulder camera view the standard for pretty much every 3rd person shooter to date. It also brought running zombies into the gaming world. And yes, I can see why people don't like Ashley, but at least she was smarter than the average Resident Evil AI partner (ex: ducking when you pointed a gun at her). And the game always found a way to get rid of her during the most difficult parts.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Undeniable good? Hold on, Let me get out my big list of nothing...

No game is undeniably good. Every game has flaws. Every game has haters. The systems we use to judge games are all completely arbitrary with no absolutes. So long as there is not a set unbreakable law of rules that makes good games there cannot be a set of undeniably good games.

 

[Chevalier noir]

OT: Unfortunately, any games anyone lists here will be found wrong by someone. I would put on that list:

Halo
Shadow of the Colossus
Demon's Souls
Beyond Good and Evil
Red Dead Redemption
Portal (both of them)
Final Fantasy VI
Chrono Trigger
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Okami
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
And more!

I had the same list except I'd put Dark Souls up there also, as of the latest patch the pvp is more balanced than its ever been.

Also, I get why people rag on it so much but I honestly would but PoP: Warrior within up there to. When I want to play a Prince of Persia game I reach for that one because its more fun to play than sands of time. The characters are worse sure and the tone took an unnecessary dark turn, but the game play improved so very much.

 

[CriticalQuit]

Cave Story.

Also Portal.