The Word 'Masterpiece' Has Lost All Meaning In Modern Gaming

This is actually an article I stumbled upon, and I wholeheartedly agree with the columnist.

Basically, the author says that she considers only three games or so in the past generation to be masterpieces (Nier: Automata, Firewatch, Hades). Now, I personally can't entirely agree with those picks because obviously, we have different tastes in games, but I get the point.

The point:

It’s ironic how quick gamers are to dish out praise in spite of their own love of toxic criticism. This morning I stumbled on a video about A Plague Tale: Requiem and comments were filled with loving declarations, many labelling it as a masterpiece more than deserving of scooping up all the awards.

The same is said about Elden Ring, God of War Ragnarok, Horizon Forbidden West, Stray, Bayonetta 3, basically every game to launch with a decent budget in the past few years. Masterpiece has come to mean ‘I enjoy this a bit’.

Some parts from the article:

We are obsessed with replicating film and patting ourselves on the back, praising predictable ideas and throwing aside innovation in fear of potential change. This is where the definition of a masterpiece becomes so warped, filled with the same selection of games that penetrate the mainstream again and again because that’s what we’ve come to settle for. All of it started with The Last of Us - Naughty Dog changed the landscape forever by showing gamers that not only were they capable of feeling emotions, but violence and heartbreak could combine with so many other themes to create something masterful.

Then gamers went on to throw that message out the window after the polarising sequel. Both are considered masterpieces, and to some extent earn that merit, but to see all the others who replicate its formula treated with similar reverence proves that we have a lot of growing up to do.

Days Gone isn’t and will never be a masterpiece, and I will fight anyone to the death who considers it one. I know that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and all that jazz, but you’re wrong.

Then the author continues to write about A Plague Tale: Requiem:

I reached breaking point with A Plague Tale: Requiem. This game isn’t necessarily bad, and Asobo has done extraordinary work in creating an IP that stands out from the crowd. But by the studio’s own admission, it is actively riding on the coattails of others, and was always intended as a period evolution of The Last of Us.

It adopts similar themes, gameplay, pacing, and goodness knows what else because that was always the intention, an evolution of a masterpiece that never intended to abandon its shadow. You see this in the sequel, which itself is a longer and more subversive take on the original much like The Last of Us Part 2.

It is creatively passionate but ever so cynical, reducing our medium down to a handful of tropes that can be replicated ad-nauseum while knowing all of us will eat it up no matter what. If this is considered a masterpiece, where exactly does the line sit?

What do you guys think?

I think her opinion is as valid as anyone else's.

The guy considers Automata as a materpiece lol. The game is a 8/10 at its best.

Biggest offender is TLOU2

Times for sure have changed.

Back in the early noughties when a game used to get a 10 (eg Max Payne or Bioshock) you'd knew you can pick up the game blind and enjoy it.

Now I see publications writing COD MW II is the best COD game ever and I barely enjoy the game. Extremely postitive reviews mean nothing to me anymore. meanwhile my favourite game could score a 6, be hated by everyone and I'd still enjoy it.

No, I actually think those are three well thought out and unique picks to nominate as masterpiece.

I blame Ghost for that.

hell no. would never put that game anywhere near masterpiece level.

Oh, definitely.

But it started a while back. I remember when Xbox 360 was released, and you could tell that Microsoft invested insane amounts of cash into marketing. The gaming press got dazzled by it; by accident or intentionally. We'll never know.

I recall those websites like TeamXbox that started inflating review scores. Every other Xbox 360 game received an 8/10.

As we are all human there are psychological tricks that definitely work, even subconsciously.

I remember for the COD reviews the reviewers always got wined and dined, taking to fancy hotels to play the game, and sometimes they would even get goodie bags.

Reviewers get dazzled by great graphics and over-the-top set pieces, explaining some high scores that Uncharted 4 for example had.

It's sad I can't trust reviews anymore: a 10/10 game could be disappointing, a 5/10 game could be out of this world.

On the other hand, we have grown as gamers ourselves; we know exactly what we want, and I don't mind returning to older games neither :p

The author's concerns of how a word like "masterpiece" has lost its original meaning in modern gaming is a reflection of the age we are now living in.

Yeah, Sony fans are calling every single game with high production values that says PlayStation on the cover "masterpiece". It's pretty annoying.

Sony fans think cause it has super expensive graphical gimmicks it show be a masterpiece. That’s why we call them types 🤡

Sadly it's true that we've gotten used to things like high production movie games and consider these as masterpieces. Thankfully the indie devs are stepping up and still creating fresh experiences.

@kathaariancode: Was going to say, single-handedly because of Ghosts.

I know that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and all that jazz, but you’re wrong.

So the article writer acknowledges that everyone is entitled to their opinion, hence why someone can say Days Gone is a masterpiece, but then not even a sentence later goes on to say that someone's opinion is wrong, so we have to assume that their opinion is the right one. And they concluded that the word "masterpiece" is being used in place of "I enjoy this game a bit." I'm sorry, but where did they get this data to support their claim? From what I could ascertain, their "source" is YouTube comment section.

Maybe people who write comments under a video for a certain game, are those who feel passionately about that game? There is always someone who really loved a game (unless it's too broken ofc).

If one person called every game a masterpiece, that would be a bit dumb. If ten different people call ten different games masterpieces, that's ok.

I don't consider it to be a major problem in my life either way.

The article writer seems to accuse gamers of sniffing their own farts while simultaneously sniffing their own farts.

Do agree with the general point though, mean, it's not new or surprising though.

Whenever something new comes out people are quick to react with hyperbole be it good our bad. The internet conditions folk to act like that.

The gaming media practically groom dumbasses to act like that. 9.5 le amazing or just barraging a ****-tone of articles to make it an "event" (coincidentally the Publishers would the most money)

Be a big boi and ignore it?

Unless this article is a revolutionary moment in the medium.

Different strokes for different folks. Some of my masterpieces are:

- Chrono Trigger and Cross

- The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, and Breath of the Wild

- Super Mario Bros. 3, World, Galaxy, Galaxy 2, and Odyssey

- Final Fantasy VII and VII Remake

- Resident Evil, 2, 4, Remake, and 2 Remake

- Metal Gear Solid, 2, 3, 4, and 5

- Demon’s Souls Remake, Elden Ring

- Monster Hunter World: Iceborne and Rise: Sunbreak

- Street Fighter II: Hyper, Alpha 2

- Super Metroid

- Super Castlevania IV, Symphony of the Night

- Contra III: The Alien Wars

i'm tired of reading people refer to so many games as "great" never mind masterpiece

a masterpiece is a game in your own heart.

@Litchie: lots of people calling Sony games masterpieces. I guess they’re all Sony shills since they share a common opinion? Or maybe they’re just that good? I guess you wouldn’t know since Xbox never makes masterpieces lmao.

Sony studios put more effort into their releases than anyone else, so its pretty normal to me that their games are considered as masterpieces way more often than others. Their games are aslo not built to be rented for $1, so the resources can be invested knowing they'll make their money back. The same cannot be said for Microsoft🤷‍♂️

If Firewatch is a masterpiece, then no wonder Valve acquired the developers (Camp Santo). Valve rarely makes acquisitions.

But yeah, its all down to taste. I personally consider Neverwinter Nights to be a masterpiece.

What mug believed in the concept of masterpiece? Not me, no such thing. If I like a game I do not apply "masterpiece" to it. Only sad fucks do, and we all know it is more to do with the hardware that runs it, not the software itself.

lol instantly thought of Ghosts.

Yeah, not a term I use to describe games at all. If the article ended at the first paragraph, would've worked. Goes on in the second paragraph to basically do the same shit it's complaining about. I've played Hades and Nier Automata. Good games. Don't know how they're any more/less deserving of the term than the games mentioned in their first paragraph. Author does explain their criteria, but not only is it flimsy, it's not a criteria that everyone else need abide by. Even if it were, they certainly won't all end up at the same grouping of games.

Can agree with the broader strokes of the article, but the details might as well be another SW post. And even here on SW, where we all butcher each other over opinions, I think most of us understand the very basic idea that we have different criteria driving our preferences.

As for those broader strokes, it's like yeah sure, but.. really just stating the obvious.

😂 I do use great as a descriptor sometimes. Basically trash/mid/good/great. Guess it's become my vague replacement for scores. You know I prefer to discuss games in detail, but sometimes just need that quick word in casual discussion.

yeah it's a word where context is important lol. i remember reading a quote, something like greatness is to goodness what wisdom is to knowledge, or something like that. cant remember exactly but the gist was they're not a linear relationship, like you can have all kinds of goodness but still not considered great.

it's like in trainspotting when renton tests the heroin.

i do find that's the case with the games i play, lots of good games, not many great games. high bar or maybe i just dont play enough games these days lol

@Macutchi:

Man, Trainspotting. Been some years lol.

Yeah I get that though, even if I typically do use it in a linear fashion. Still not one I throw around generously. And it's usually in describing an aspect of a game rather than the whole game. Pretty rare for the whole of the experience to hit me like that.

Find most stuff I play to fall in the mid to good area. Basically Ghosts opposite where it's either trash or masterpiece. Trashterpiece? This is what I'm calling Mafia now.

yeah same man

why people are mentioning me for masterpiece?

what this word has to do with me?

lol

Irs a very good point in that we praise games that fo the same thing while ignore those that innovate

Gaming has gotten very stale and predictable

While I agree, I am sure people just use the term to express their love for the media at the moment. Critical review will follow once they get over the honeymoon period.

I think it would be fair to say that any game that scores 93+ on Metacritic has a general consensus of “masterpiece” status. Individual tastes as to what constitutes a masterpiece will vary.

Any games I’ve rated a ten are masterpieces to me, including recent games such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, Astro Bot: Rescue Mission, and Red Dead Redemption 2. Then, there are a plethora of Super Mario platformers that are 10’s and Resident Evil 4, RE2 Remake, RE1 Remake, etc.

What I think is, it could be a totally different group or demographic of gamers for each game. Not necessarily all gamers declaring all these games being a masterpiece.

Now if she said something like, well they're exaggerating. Well... yeah.

The article is so dumb .. she criticizes gamers who throw the word "masterpiece" at their preferred games which she thinks they don't deserve, while she is a victim of doing the same exact thing in other people's eyes.

So what that each gamer is calling his preferred games "masterpieces". Big Deal!!

Just shut up and stop feeling so entitled just because you are a journalist 😏

The author seems to think that The Last of Us is some kind of landmark title, the first game to combine violence and emotions. So...uh...I guess that illustrates how people are mislabelling things as masterpieces?

Anyway, I'd say the only real masterpiece of the past few years is Disco Elysium. It's a work of art, and one of the few videogames out there with genuinely great writing.

Only if you enjoy reading books and listening to audio books.

Lots of people like crap. I don't.

Why are you talking about Xbox? Are you under the impression that I must be an Xbox fan for not liking Sony, and that you totally "got back at me" for saying Xbox doesn't get masterpieces or something? Well, you actually said "Xbox never makes masterpieces", since you're a bit dumb in regular Sony fanboy fashion.

one of my real life friend think sony make best games because thier games feel like watching movies and so emotional stories etc. i guess this is what sony carter towards.

And I think they make terrible games because of the exact same reason. The fanboys sure don't like me saying that. They love their watching, walking, talking.

exactly. they just get impressed by the detailing and polishness and aslo story that makes them cry LOL.

whats with obsession of games that make you cry??? are not games suppose to be fun??

@Litchie: Xbox, you know the gaming division of MS, does not make masterpieces. Want me to go slower for you?

Haha! Such butthurt.

Slower? No, but correct would be cool. It's called Xbox Game Studios. Now, you might go, "duh, it's obvious that's what I meant", but with Sony fanboys nothing is obvious.

@nnoyinghusband: TLOU2 is one of only 5 genuine masterpieces of the last 10 years.

@IgGy621985: Calling Nier, Firewatch and Hades, three generic garbage games as masterpieces is the biggest offender she is referring to.

There are a few games in the last 10 years that can be objectively defined as a masterpiece:

God of War Ragnarok

Elden Ring

The Last of Us 2

Red Dead Redemption II

God of War

Zelda: BOTW

Bloodborne

Metal Gear Solid 5

The Last of Us

@R4gn4r0k: What 5/10 has been out of this world and what "10/10" (lets say 93+ MC) game has been bad? I'd love to hear...

Oh, man... Some of you guys are completely missing the point of the article...

@Litchie: ya real butthurt. Felt the need to have to capitalize the name and everything did ya, corporate muppet. “Im not an xbox fan” lmao