Sweeping declaration: There have been no 'amazing' games this generation

Discuss.

*BOOM* Controversial statement. I just saw an ad for Mass Effect 3 quoting one review saying 'Absolutely amazing!' I recall an ad for Uncharted 3 which quoted a review as 'incredible on every level.' IGN called it a masterpiece. Kevin Van Ord practically had to change his pants in his review for Metal Gear Solid 4.

*Nostalgia glasses* I thought Ocarina of time was incredible. I drooled like a baby when i first played Halo. I thought Final Fantasy VII was as good as a videogame could ever get. I invited all of my friends over just to stare in disbelief at Half Life 2.

I don't know if it's the games, or me, but this gen i've had no experiences like that. Nothing even close, to be honest. When i look back at the big hitters; Gears of War, Halo XYZ, Uncharted, MGS4, Mass Effect. They're all great games, but they all kinda suck at the same time. They're all games i could write a whole thread praising and a whole thread tearing to pieces for being so horrible.

Maybe the standard has gotten so good that videogames now seem less impressive and less special. Or maybe standards have slipped and videogames really are of inferior quality.

GUFU's thoughts?

I think everyone prefers the first games they played because at the time it was a whole new thing. I still love Spyro the Dragon despite the fact that its aged horribly, I love FFX despite what everyone else says. In fact I dislike most of the games you posted despite how good they were back in the day. Everyone loves the first game/movie/book/etc. and compares everything that comes after to it.

It's just you.

Games have never been this good. The amount of good games, I mean.

Amazing?

A lot of amazing games have come out. It's just that the standards for you typical game has risen so high and there have been so many great games coming out, no one in particular stands out.

Back in the 90s, when a great game came out, people remebered it because the rest of the crap we were forced to play was nothing compared to that one game Now we get a great game almost every month. People just expect it.

Mass Effect 3 was amazing up until the last 10 minutes of the game. Then it sucked massively.

I've always felt like the best games to me were ones that came out of nowhere. Games that I didn't know even existed until I was playing them at which I instantly became fond of them. 

There have been a lot of amazingly polished games.

There haven't been many amazing games, though.

I too fondly remembered Halo CE... right up until I fired up Halo Anniversary a couple of months back. Turns out it's about one-third spectacular outdoor sections and two-thirds corridor crawling so tedious and unenjoyable that at the end of it all you're kinda shocked Bungie is still in business.

It's pure nostalgia: you were younger and dumber and didn't know any better, and even if you did it was easy to make excuses because of the technical limitations. Nowadays the bar has been raised so high that there's no longer an excuse for a less-than-perfect game, which doesn't gel particularly well with the fact that game development is really f*cking complicated. If you take a step back and look at games as a whole instead of "decent gameplay except for that one level with solid writing aside from Character X and good-but-not-as-good-as-Competitor Z multiplayer" I think it's pretty clear that this has been far and away the strongest generation.

It's just you.

Games have never been this good. The amount of good games, I mean.

Aljosa23

Yep, up to PS2 gen, my favorite games were mostly all RPGs with a few action games, this gen there is a lot more genre spread, more hybrid and unique genres, huge boom in awesome indie game popularity.

It's certainly nostalgia talking. You will not be able to ever repeat some early childhood gaming experiances, no matter how good a modern game is.    

There have been plenty of games that have been amazing to me. Sometimes it's the storytelling, sometimes it's the game play, sometimes it's the graphics, and some rare games put all of those togther.

I too fondly remembered Halo CE... right up until I fired up Halo Anniversary a couple of months back. Turns out it's about one-third spectacular outdoor sections and two-thirds corridor crawling so tedious and unenjoyable that at the end of it all you're kinda shocked Bungie is still in business.

It's pure nostalgia: you were younger and dumber and didn't know any better, and even if you did it was easy to make excuses because of the technical limitations. Nowadays the bar has been raised so high that there's no longer an excuse for a less-than-perfect game, which doesn't gel particularly well with the fact that game development is really f*cking complicated. If you take a step back and look at games as a whole instead of "decent gameplay except for that one level with solid writing aside from Character X and good-but-not-as-good-as-Competitor Z multiplayer" I think it's pretty clear that this has been far and away the strongest generation.

Slow_Show

I liked Anniversary. The graphics were sexy. Halo always had terri-bad sections though. It wasn't a sum of its parts, definitely.Ninja-Hippo

The thing that struck me was just how bland the corridor crawling was. Obviously The Library has always been terrible and the Flood have always been unfun, but even the indoor sections of The Silent Cartographer and Assault on the Control Room dragged, and it seems like you spend almost the entire final third of the game going room to room with the shotgun. If 343 hadn't made such a big deal about how it's a new graphics engine running on top of Halo CE I would've sworn they'd ruined the gun and enemy balance.

I think there have been some amazing games this generation, but it all depends on the user. My perceptions of what constitutes an amazing game differs from the next guy/gal.

I too fondly remembered Halo CE... right up until I fired up Halo Anniversary a couple of months back. Turns out it's about one-third spectacular outdoor sections and two-thirds corridor crawling so tedious and unenjoyable that at the end of it all you're kinda shocked Bungie is still in business.Slow_Show

especially the arbiter sections Ewwjg4xchamp

*mini-rant incoming, abort* 

My problem with this gen is no amazing jRPGs(for the sake of defenition, I will exclude strategy or other non-traditional subgenres) on consoles. Usually my favorite games each gen are jRPGs, yes, you can call me all sorts of names I don't mind. Last gen it was Persona 4 and Shadow Hearts: Covenant that were my favorites, this gen the only ones I enjoyed were like Tales of Vesperia which isn't even that great, Xenoblade, which was about as close to a good PS1/PS2 era jRPG as you could get I guess and The Last Remnant, which is very hard to 'click' into, and technically a PC game and not a console one, because the console one has awful issues, but has the best turn-based battle system in jRPG history I would say. 

Mistwalker is pure trash, I am shocked and amazed at the scores The Last Story got, it is an uphill battle of boredom and frustration to play that game. Lost Oddysey has its moments but it got the score it deserved.

Atlus had 2 digital devil saga games, 2 persona games, nocturne, 2 detective whatshisface games, and probably some other games, as part of SMT universe alone on PS2, this gen just has catherine on consoles.

Handhelds have had a number of good jRPGs, TWEWY is sweet, and Trails in the Sky is probably my favorite RPG this gen, but I just don't like playing on handhelds nearly as much as PC and consoles. 

/rant 

Honestly, at least wRPGs manage to fill that void to some extent or another. There have been quite a number of great ones this gen. 

I agree with you on mistwalker. Lost Odyssey was ok, but just seemed to lack anything that would distinguish itself. Square Enix has been MIA this generation. Sure they've made some games, but nothing with much impact. really a lack of good jrpgs this gen.

For JRPGs, I'd point to Valkyria Chronicles as one of my favorite all time games. I don't normally go back and play through RPGs, but I've gone through VC twice, and replayed many missions separately. At least 100 hours. And I've done more than 100 on VC2, which is on the PSP, and that's a lesser game.

For JRPGs, I'd point to Valkyria Chronicles as one of my favorite all time games. I don't normally go back and play through RPGs, but I've gone through VC twice, and replayed many missions separately. At least 100 hours. And I've done more than 100 on VC2, which is on the PSP, and that's a lesser game.

jimkabrhel

Yeah, the part in brackets about excluding other genres was because there are a few games like VC that are part RPG.

VC is pretty awesome though, for sure.  

Sweeping generalization: As we get older, our priorities shift and gaming isn't as magical as it once was. :Pmusicalmac

I strongly back this statement.

Sweeping generalization: As we get older, our priorities shift and gaming isn't as magical as it once was. :Pmusicalmac

Might not have as much time, but a good game is still a good game.

I love Dark Souls as much as any older games.  

For JRPGs, I'd point to Valkyria Chronicles as one of my favorite all time games.

jimkabrhel

Some of my all time favorites are from this generation. The amazement I had found in Ocarina of Time as a kid I found in Grand Theft Auto 4 as a young adult (Although I know I'm in the minority using GTA4 as an example. At least in GUFU). 

Overtime your taste matures and becomes keener. It's easy to be wowed as a child because...well you're a child.

[QUOTE="jimkabrhel"]

For JRPGs, I'd point to Valkyria Chronicles as one of my favorite all time games.

jg4xchamp

You forgot Xenoblade and The Last Story as well.Foolz3h

I specifically mentioned The Last Story, it's s***. Reviewers are smoking some serious stuff.

Xenoblade is sweet though.  

Mass Effect 3 was amazing up until the last 10 minutes of the game. Then it sucked massively.

sonicare

Like the other GUFUers said, there are tons of amazing games this gen, standards...raised.

But still there are standouts like MGS4, GT5, GOW3, Gears of War 1, GRAW, R6LA, Dead Rising 1 and 2, Just Cause 1 and 2, COD4, mw3 and Black Ops, Heavy Rain, UMVC3, the whole Ass Creed series and Im sure Im forgetting something in-between.

If the great games of old suck now in modern eyes, and we only think of the old games being good due to nostalgia, do the effects of hype not apply to this generation?

Next gen when every second game is considered a cIassic I imagine that many "great" games of today won't be seen to stand up at all.

[QUOTE="sonicare"]

Mass Effect 3 was amazing up until the last 10 minutes of the game. Then it sucked massively.

Stevo_the_gamer

I hate the fact that I have to agree with this. 

I just don't know what happened. It was so good. SO f**king good. And then the ending happened.

I hate the fact that I have to agree with this.

I just don't know what happened. It was so good. SO f**king good. And then the ending happened.

The_Game21x

I think you give it too much credit when you call it an ending lol

If the great games of old suck now in modern eyes, and we only think of the old games being good due to nostalgia, do the effects of hype not apply to this generation?

Next gen when every second game is considered a cIassic I imagine that many "great" games of today won't be seen to stand up at all.

Foolz3h

[QUOTE="Foolz3h"]

If the great games of old suck now in modern eyes, and we only think of the old games being good due to nostalgia, do the effects of hype not apply to this generation?

Next gen when every second game is considered a cIassic I imagine that many "great" games of today won't be seen to stand up at all.

jg4xchamp

That's kinda my point. The majority of highly rated games aren't actually great, and that includes at the time they're released. Then when the hype has passed people aren't so impressed.

Yeah, yeah, I'm sure evolving mechanics plays a part too. 

[QUOTE="jg4xchamp"][QUOTE="Foolz3h"]

If the great games of old suck now in modern eyes, and we only think of the old games being good due to nostalgia, do the effects of hype not apply to this generation?

Next gen when every second game is considered a cIassic I imagine that many "great" games of today won't be seen to stand up at all.

Foolz3h

That's kinda my point. The majority of highly rated games aren't actually great, and that includes at the time they're released. Then when the hype has passed people aren't so impressed.

Yeah, yeah, I'm sure evolving mechanics plays a part too.

So no love for Super Mario Galaxy 1/2?

There have been tons of amazing games this generation (Mass Effect 3 most recently, and I need to play Journey, which is apparently also worthy of praise)

That being said, this is me talking, and I am far more lenient when it comes down to what is considered "amazing" :P

Hippo. you forgot about the godly halo wars. Probably the best RTS ever made - possibly the best game ever made.

You know I can probably find a major fault in just about every game this gen. The only major games from last gen that I couldn't find faults in are...MGS2 and Metroid Prime and I guess the Subsistence version of MGS3 if you consider the mp seperate from sp.

[QUOTE="Stevo_the_gamer"][QUOTE="sonicare"]

Mass Effect 3 was amazing up until the last 10 minutes of the game. Then it sucked massively.

The_Game21x

I hate the fact that I have to agree with this.

I just don't know what happened. It was so good. SO f**king good. And then the ending happened.