Lightning in a Bottle games
Sometimes you have great games come from great studios with an almost consistent basis. Sometimes you have bad games come from great studios, and sometimes you get a great game come from out of nowhere and destroy all players expectations that were made in a condition that can never replicate ever again even if you tried; these are those games.
If you have any personal suggestions place comment below.
If you have any personal suggestions place comment below.
15 Games
The conditions in which RE4 was made should've resulted in a poorly managed project that got rushed out the door without a real clear vision. What came out of it however is not only one of the most satisfying arcade shooter/survival horror games; but also one of the most influential games to be released in 20 years.
This game was made at the perfect point for Telltale. They still had their core talent from Lucasart and had been progressively improving their gameplay and writing. With this game however not only did the studio reach mainstream acclaim from its writing and its "choice matter" system but given the game's episodic nature it allowed the Walking Dead team to improve the game from each episode going forward. Going from episode 1 to episode 5 is like watching a studio take in all criticism both good and bad and put in the maximum effort with a studio of that size. After this game Telltale was never and same and none of the games released after even hold a candle to this games writing and presentation and given how all talented devs who made this game and Telltale what it was left right after the game wrapped i'd consider this game lightning in a bottle.
This one hurts me knowing my love for Saints Row but it's 100% true. After SR1 Volition wanted to prove to the whole world that SR was something more than just another "GTA Clone", so they went out of their way to improve on the design of SR1 in almost every way imaginable, creating one of the most fun open world crime sandbox games that just so happens to have one of the best character creators and a story that has no reason to go as raw as it does. Almost every SR game after this never reached this level of quality and still continues to have a complete identity issue.
Fallows in the same vain as RE4. Where the development was so rushed and mishandled by Bethesda that it's a miracle that it's not only one of the best written western RPGS of all time but one of the best games of all time.
This one just might be a me thing but given how many times Nintendo put out sequels to Luigi's Mansion none of them have been able to capture the same atmosphere and gameplay loop of the first. I've said this over and over and I'm gonna keep saying it but Luigi's Mansion is one of those perfect replayable games; since given it's short nature and arcade style money system it encourages replayability to get the next biggest high score for your next run. It's perfect and I see no way in hell a remake or any of the sequels reaching this same level of quality in my eyes.
This one is just pretty self-explanatory. Made in the perfect time during the hurrah of Rareware's golden era. It's crude adult humor and foul mouth characters gives to the perfect contrast with the cutesy kid friendly aesthetic. Literary this a game like this can not exist in the same vain anymore.
This has the same development hell background as RE4 but given how small and inexperienced Human Head was as a studio at that time and given their output before and after Prey this really does feel like it was a perfect storm of ingredients all culminating together. Really this game was the best thing to come out of Duke Nukem Forever's development hell since 3D Realms was gonna make it but they were too preoccupied with DKF so that's how the game ended up on the lap of Human Head.
It's an actual perfect storm of events that can only really be described as a divine act of god. So many other scam indie horror devs have tried in vain to replicate the near overnight success of FNAF but none of them will. Scott Cawthon is a contentious figure that I really don't wanna get into but given the "fluctuating quality" of all other FNAF games after this in my opinion that big splash can't ever and will never happen again, not in the indie horror scene at least. Oh sure their are the few stragglers who make momentary success through viral popularity; but none of them have the insane lasting impact that FNAF still has, I mean jesus christ the first FNAF came out 10 years ago and not only are we still talking about it but it even has its own crappy medium budget Hollywood Blockbuster. I know for a fact that Garten of Banban will never have something as powerful as that BlumHouse clout.
Say what you will about RWS (and you can say A LOT) but this game is probably the best example of a post 9/11 video game. Besides it's gameplay being just serviceable and humor being......"an acquired taste". It still does a great job capturing that era of security, paranoia, systemic racism, and general nihilistic lack of caring about the world in a post 9/11 world.
RWS has tried so much to reclame that same tone and style of humor but each time they try it seems like they probably missed the whole point of what made P2 "good" and just think racism, "absurd political correctness", and poop is what made P2 funny but rather it was everything surrounding the south park tier humor that made P2 interesting.
RWS has tried so much to reclame that same tone and style of humor but each time they try it seems like they probably missed the whole point of what made P2 "good" and just think racism, "absurd political correctness", and poop is what made P2 funny but rather it was everything surrounding the south park tier humor that made P2 interesting.
If Postal 2 was the best example of a post 9/11 game then in my eyes this is the best example of a post Bush game.
I know this game is a contentious topic (especially on this site) but personally to me I still feels as if it does a good job at showcasing the disgusting glorification of US military propaganda of that era of gaming while also being able to have a somewhat nuanced look at how gamers see military games and how in the grand scheme of things the US military was and still is a horrible super power poking your nose where it doesn't belong, and making life hell for everyone around them. The US hero soldier protagonist of these games are not badass heroes saving the free world; their killers with the permission to commit genocide based around a disgusting ideology and a crooked moral compass.
Knowing the era this was made in and knowing the media literacy of Gamers this bombed horribly and Yager never got the chance to try and go for another game on the same level as this, I've seen other games try and go for the same tone and overall message this game does but they noramlly always fail or they have their head so far up their own ass they see.
Again I'm probably in the minority with this entry (especially on this site) but I still like what it did. I feel as if it earned its spot here.
I know this game is a contentious topic (especially on this site) but personally to me I still feels as if it does a good job at showcasing the disgusting glorification of US military propaganda of that era of gaming while also being able to have a somewhat nuanced look at how gamers see military games and how in the grand scheme of things the US military was and still is a horrible super power poking your nose where it doesn't belong, and making life hell for everyone around them. The US hero soldier protagonist of these games are not badass heroes saving the free world; their killers with the permission to commit genocide based around a disgusting ideology and a crooked moral compass.
Knowing the era this was made in and knowing the media literacy of Gamers this bombed horribly and Yager never got the chance to try and go for another game on the same level as this, I've seen other games try and go for the same tone and overall message this game does but they noramlly always fail or they have their head so far up their own ass they see.
Again I'm probably in the minority with this entry (especially on this site) but I still like what it did. I feel as if it earned its spot here.
Doug TenNapel is a bad person who surrounded himself with funny people and made a fantastic claymation point and click game. While yes a good chunk of Neverhoods humor and tone are staples of TenNapel writing; the game is properly balanced out but also having influences from people who aren't horrible people. Their are other point and click games of this kind that go for that surrealist wacky tone that Neverhood had but none of them really scratched that itch and charm Neverhood had. Hell Doug TenNapel even tried to do it again with Armikrog, and that shit fucking sucked.
Doug TenNapel is a horrible human being. I hope he lives to suffer.
Doug TenNapel is a horrible human being. I hope he lives to suffer.
Recommended by a friend of mine.
Recommended by a friend of mine.
Recommended by a friend of mine.
Recommended by a friend of mine.
LucasTheYeti
3 months ago