Top Five Games-As-Art, BYO Opinion
Our geekly brethren over at WeeklyGeek have asked themselves the question, “What games qualify as true art, and what are our top five picks?” It’s the perfect notion to ponder on a Sunday, and as luck would have it the Geeks have blessed us with a tripartite answer, with three lists from three contributors – that’s three times the number of opinions to disagree with, y’all! You’ll have to take a gander at the lists themselves to understand the reasoning behind the selections. Make the jump to check them out!
Frodo’s List:
- 5: Animal Crossing
- 4: The Sims (Series)
- 3: Shadow of the Colossus
- 2: Phoenix Wright
- 1: Electroplankton
The Geek’s List:
- 5: Metroid Prime
- 4: Super Mario Bros.
- 3: Final Fantasy Tactics
- 2: Katamari Damacy
- 1: Shadow of the Colossus
Caspian’s List:
- 5: Okami (‘Bout time.)
- 4: Katamari Damacy
- 3: Grand Theft Auto 3
- 2: Paper Mario
- 1: Final Fantasy XII
Now, my creative and artistic and sensitive fellows, remember that this is a gamer’s idea of artistic merit, not a gay perspective – which I daresay may look a great deal different. Nevertheless, Les Geeks explain their philosophy well:
I was taught that art is anything anyone takes the time to call “art”. A broad definition, but it works. It’s not just how pretty a game looks, or if it is made to look like a painting. Art requires the person viewing to think, to maybe change their world view through the eyes of the Artist, who is regarded as a sort of seer, someone who can visualize and filter the world in ways we cannot.
OK, fair enough. But I still want prettier pictures on that list. I am, however, an acknowledged philistine. A degree in English Literatures (yeah, they come in plurals now) and I never read Moby Dick.
What are your top five games-as-art?
Top Five List: Top Five Games As Art [WeeklyGeekShow.com]
tiny dancer
Posted to Video Games on 3 December 2006
· Comments (21)
Other stuff like this: games as art, lists, weekly geek
5: Elebits (I know it’s now out yet and I don’t have a Wii, but the game looks gorgeous.)
4: Killer7
3: Animal Crossing
2: Final Fantasy VIII
1: Chrono Cross
Killer7 is not only an insane game to play, but the visuals, music, and intricately confusing storyline are what makes the game stand out from other shoots today.
Animal Crossing…what can I say about this game? It’s like playing through a child’s coloring book with soothing music in the background and flowers that need planting. It’s just a lovely game.
Final Fantasy VIII had me wide-eyed from the opening movie and the more I played the more I loved it. The score was what you’d expect from a Final Fantasy game, but there was a haunting quality about the situations and art which the game presented. Plus all the male characters were totes gay, especially Zell with his hotdog obsession. I digress.
Chrono Cross was just, in my opinion, flawless. The graphics, the music, the game itself…it was wonderful. I was 14 when Chrono Cross found its way onto my PSOne and it definitely had an impact upon my 14 year old mind. A good impact, not a bad one. :-D
I’m done now.
love the refrence to Final Fantasy Tactics. I Would Love a true sequal to that game that didn’t try to change a thing. Just gave us more story.
Oh and Tiny I’m getting my English degree this May and have not, and do not plan on, reading Moby Dick either :D
It’s hard to say what would be considered art… but with a game as poorly written (or hastily if you wish) as Final Fantasy XIII I’m amazed it made anybody’s list… yes it’s a good game, but it’s severely flawed in the story department.
ICO (I honestly can’t believe ICO isn’t on somebody’s list)
Chrono Trigger
Valkyrie Profile
That’s my 2 cents.
sorry, I meant Final Fantasy XII.
5: Psychonauts
4: Phantasy Star Online
3: Katamari
2: Rez
1: Zelda: The Wind Waker
Ideally I’d give honors to Lucas Arts titles like Day of the Tentacle and Full Throttle. I was tempted to put Second Life on the list as it allows for so much creativity, but it’s not really a game.
Ugh… top five? I have one, but when trying to think of four more I inevitably compare them (unfavorably) to the one game I can think of that I would call art. From level design to graphics to controls to music, this game is the pinnacle of what a video game can be.
1. Yoshi’s Island
Ian, Good call on wind waker.
5. Tempest (minimalism FTW)
4. Katamari Damacy (Peter Max in 3D FTW)
3. Electroplankton (electronic sculpture FTW)
2. Okami (watercolors FTW)
1. Pac-Man (ultimate efficiency in design FTW)
Heh, I bought Rez right around the same time as my PS2 earlier this year, but I still haven’t had time to play it. So this list will probably change.
My first thoughts have all been mentioned already, but here goes:
1. Okami
2. Shadow of the Colossus
3. Killer 7
4. Katamari Damacy
5. Psychonauts
5. Zelda: Wind Waker
4. Sly Cooper
3. Katamari Damacy
2. Okami
1. Shadow of the Colossus
Zelda: Windwaker: it seriously impressed me immediately with its art style. Cel-shading hadn’t been done better at that point.
Sly Cooper: I love this game because it has an awesome art style and the gameplay and fun story to back it up. The comic book style cutscenes really fit in well here too.
Katamari Damacy: Everything about this game reeks of OMG UNIQUE! I mean damn. It’s not one of the prettier games to look at, but its characters are great and memorable (or at least the King is) and it’s definitely gonna be an art style you want see anywhere else.
Okami: This game continues to wow me as I make my way through it for the second time now. Everything about this game is just… mmmm mmmm mmm mmmm tasty. A genius theme that was brilliantly executed throughout the entire game and a solid art direction. And it has fishermen wearing nothing but shells, it doesn’t get much better than that.
Shadow of the Colossus: I don’t have much to say about this, even though it tops my list, simply because everything about it made my jaw drop and knocked the speech right out of me (which is hard to do). The battles were works of art in themselves and the scale was just so epic and awe-inspiring.
I don’t think it’s possible to sum up the best art-styles in five games or less, but I’d have to add two glaring omissions:
Silent Hill (series), for its decrepit, yet beautiful ‘dark world’ imagery
and
Ikaruga, for its sheer beauty and sweeping camerawork.
Edit: I may be confusing the camerawork with Gradius V or the newer PS2 R-Type. It’s been a long time since I’ve played a 3D shmup.
ICO
Shadow Of Colossus
Rez
Okami looks good… havent tried it yet tho. But is art about looking good?
I thought about it, really really hard. I thought about what makes something art and to be honest all it has to do is speak to you. So I reached deep into my gaming history to pull out some truly artistic games. Unfortunately I also have a few runners up because of a lot of reasons including I have never “played” them. So here they are:
5: Ico, this game is stunning. It’s a first gen PS2 game that rivals the sound and graphics of final gen PS2 games. It was more of an adventure game then an RPG (Adventure meaning Sierra style game, minus the item collecting) and puzzle after puzzle I just wanted more.
4: The Kings Quest Series. I dunno if its cheating to name a whole series. So If I had to narrow it down I would say Kings Quest Six. But they all defined the Adventure genera for me and are written so well, even if they are simple. The art and writing mesh so well that its like reading a living fairy tale.
3: Mario 64. If you sit back and look, and really really look. Ignore the fuzzy, simple textures and put yourself back into the mind of a middle schooler was there anything more beautiful then Mario 64? The spot on control was the music and the puzzles were its paper. Even if it was not as pretty, as say, Zelda, it spook a little deeper because it took the oldest of video game characters and thrust him(them) into the new age of 3d perfectly. I remember, at the time while the SNES was still fresh in my head watching Mario run over some realistic(ish) water and seeing it ripple and hear it splash impressed me so much. I could not think of this game as anything but art.
2: Chrono Cross. I can hear the screams of anger already, but Chrono Cross as distant as it was from its awesome older brother screamed art. The story was so dark, and, I cant think of any other word to describe it other then @#$%ed up. After a few hours playing it I forgot my expectations of it being “another Chrono Trigger.” I got cameos and that was enough but it really delve a lot deeper then Chrono Trigger did. (NOTE: Chrono Trigger is one of my all time faves.)
1: Final Fantasy XII. I have not been as drawn in by a Final Fantasy game since I played six. The art is beautiful and the story is detailed beyond what I expected. The military politics that dominate this game are so interesting and add such realism its unbelievable. The “new” battle system is the perfect evolution of the old school and it all flows so well. If I have to talk about games as an art form, this is the top of my list because it has it all: It has extreamly beautiful graphics, a well thought out story, a newish(If nothing more fresh) battle system, and its kept me interested the whole time. Even putting I down for a week or two (due to work and life) I could pick it up again and be immediately into the game as if I never out it down.
I had a few runners up, like Electroplankton that just oozes art in its mear concept. But unfortunately I had never played it. Valkyrie Profile 2 has the best graphics hands down on the PS2. I don’t own a single game that looks better. I wanted to throw Zelda OoT in there but that was more fitting for a “Games that made the biggest impression” list. I wanted to put Chrono Trigger up there but again its less art and more like just a bomb ass game. But the lines are blurred. But thats it, not that my list matters but this is this homo’s point of view.
Skeez!
My 5 (in no order): Killer 7, Ico, Rez, Okami, Shadow of the Colossus.
Bonus shout outs to… Wind Waker, Metroid: Zero Mission, and Cave Story.
Since I can reduce my mental age to enjoy the gaggingly cutesy sound clips and smiley faces, I choose:
Yoshi’s Story (N64)
Okami
We Love Katamari (this beats out the first just barely)
Rez
Persona 2 (honorable mention for Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne and Digital Devil Saga as well but Persona 2 came first)
Killer 7
These were the games that the art style wowed me the most. Yeah, Final Fantasy and some platformers look good but we’ve seen all that crap before. These games were amazingly original in their design.
rez, killer 7, viewtiful joe, cosmic smash, jet set radio – i like it simple and stylish and obviously i’m a bit of a sega and capcom-whore…
haven’t played okami yet, but it will definitely find it’s way into my artsy games collection once the pal-version will released…
Otogi 1 & 2 The art and music is so amazing. I fell in love with the look the moment I saw it.
1. Snatcher
2. Rez
3. Killer7
4. Okami
5. Earthbound
In my geeky defense, I am half gay.