Editor’s Note: Despite Reed poking fun at the fact that he’s doing a list, he’s covering a pretty interesting topic that demands more feedback. Also: probably the only time you’ll see Pocahontas’ Colors of the Wind referenced on this site. -Greg
Hey, you guys love lists, right? I love lists, too! This is a list of games that aren’t simply revolutionary like Wolfenstein 3D or Super Mario Bros., but games that really showed that they can be considered art while using the medium they’re on to its highest potential.
1. Shadow of the Colossus
This game has improved the medium for two main reasons: 1) its minimalistic storytelling that was not spoon-fed to you, and 2) its beautiful graphics for the time. SOTC’s storytelling has been mirrored in games like Braid, where you actually have to think, and I like that. The graphics, on the other hand, blew my mind. The fact that when you climb a colossi you actually feel like you’re holding onto its hair/moss is remarkable. This game is an obvious contender for “Games as Art” because of its stunning visuals.
2. Passage
This is an obscure indie freeware game created by renowned game designer Jason Rohrer, and it tells the story of love and marriage. It’s more like an interactive movie than a game, and you should definitely check it out, although I’m too lazy to provide a link [Ed. note: But we’re not!]. It’s not necessarily entertaining, nor is it fun, but it shows what videogames are capable of and potentialy would make Roger Ebert’s head come out of his ass.
3. Psychonauts
Games can be three things in my mind. 1) Entertainment, which is what most games can be classified as (e.g., Call of Duty or Halo). 2) They can be art, like most of the games on this list. And 3) they can be a storytelling device like Metal Gear Solid. Psychonauts is none of these things. Psychonauts is a platformer…but not that great of one. Where it succeeds is in its awesome level design and great dialogue. Writing isn’t just about storytelling — which is why I think Star Wars could be much better — it’s equally about dialogue, which is why all comics before 1985 suck in my opinion. Psychonauts is probably the only game that ever made me laugh out loud, excluding the ludicrousness of games like Duke Nukem (RIP, 3D Realms) and Gears of War. Psychonauts’ excellent dialogue shown like a bright star in a sea of sunken oil tankers from MGS2, offering up a prime example of what games should sound like when their characters talk.
4. Flower
Flower is so great because of its simplicity. It doesn’t have scores. It doesn’t have a story (though, oddly enough, it does have plot progression). It doesn’t have characters. It’s just a beautiful HD display of nature and the cities that are destroying it. It’s like the scene from Pocahontas where they sing Colors of the Wind, if that was a videogame. It’s probably the greatest game ever made for the price I paid, and I don’t care how much flack I get for that, because I LOVE Flower.
5. Braid
Braid is remarkable for two reasons: its “what the fuck storytelling,” and its reimagining of the most simple of game mechanics. As Soulja Boy so stupidly said, “It’s like Mario in a business suit.” The game only added one little mechanic that it stole from Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (a mechanic that I think should be in all games), but it managed to keep adding to that with simple iterations. These two things made Jonathan Blow’s baby a must-have for me.
You may notice that I left out a couple of landmark titles, such as BioShock or the original Metal Gear Solid, but I couldn’t think of three more games in addition to those, and a top seven list just sounds silly. That is all.
-Reed Brown