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Is there any game from the past 5 years that would enter your Top 10?

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VoodooDerina - 16 September 2020 09:48 AM

When it comes to numbers, then these are more exact and can give us a realistic picture how niche and insignificant in global gaming industry this genre has become.  Frown

And what’s wrong with being niche?

There have never been made as many adventure games as nowadays, so even though the genre is no longer mainstream, it is still thriving. But for a smaller player base - so with smaller sales figures and smaller budgets.

But as has been shown over and over again: a AAA-budget doesn’t necessarily translate into a quality game, and vice-versa, a lack of budget doesn’t necessarily translate into a lack of quality. I’ll take the good game with the lack of polish over the poor game with high production value any day of the week. And if the low-budget game manages to play to its own strengths and make the most of its production value, then that game will be great.

     

The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka

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This is an interesting discussion. For me coming up with a top 10 or top 20 list of games would be very difficult. There are many games that I hold dear and feel nostalgic about but when I replay them today I don’t feel near as enthusiastic or impressed. My two most recent examples are Monkey Island 2, which I replayed recently but had to forced myself to finish, and Grim Fandango, which I quit after a couple of hours. These are indisputable classics of course, and have their place in a Top 20 but I’m probably the type of gamer that kind of moves on with the times and can easily get into and appreciate modern trends, especially the more narrative oriented ones.

A top 5 game for me for example is SOMA, one of if not the best story I have experienced in a video game and it came in the past 5 years. Gone Home and Edith Finch would fit nicely on a Top 15 or 20.

On a side note, am I the only one in here that didn’t really love Return of the Obra Dinn? Don’t get me wrong, I thought the premise was brilliant and I was on board (no pun intended) for the first couple of hours, but after a while I got bored and just forced myself to reach the part where you can leave the ship and get the first ending. I didn’t feel any motivation whatsoever to figure out all of the fates and the minimalistic graphics and production values didn’t help either. In this regard I agree with VoodooDerina. I would have loved to see this type of idea exectuded with better production values or a more compelling way to make the investigation exciting and get to know the people of the ship.

     

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VoodooDerina - 16 September 2020 08:38 AM

It would be like appreciating modern Hollywood which is pile of garbage wrapped in sweet PC coating just because we know it will just get worse and will never be on the level that it once was.

In my opinion, that example kinda weakens the point you’re trying to make. You’re arguing that newer adventure games have worse production values and are thus subpar (not AAA) compared to the old ones. By that logic, wouldn’t newer Hollywood movies be the pinnacle of moviemaking *because* of the production values?

In the olden days when I was young, more impressionable and everything was fresh to my untainted brain, I enjoyed popular culture, be it games or movies. Now that I’m older and have more refined/distilled tastes, I don’t like the popular/mainstream offerings that much anymore. So I more often than not gravitate toward indie releases, be it storydriven/adventure games made by enthusiasts that are still innovating and driving it forward. Same with movies. I almost definately will enjoy an A24/indie movie better than a big Hollywod blockbuster franchise movie. Probably because the subject matter isn’t predicated on that EVERYONE has to like it for it to be a success.

But then again. We’re probably talking about different things here. If you narrow it down to purely point and click classic interface games, you’re right. No doubt. Then the golden age was like over 20 years ago and is never coming back.

     
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It also needs to be mentioned, that many of the modern adventure games do have bigger budgets than what many of the old, classic games do. Back in the 90s game budgets that went to tens of millions were very rare. Even Wing Commander 3 that was considered to be a very expensive game thanks to the tech and Hollywood names attached to it cost around 4 to 5 million dollars. I think it might have been the most expensive game produced to that point in time (1994). Phantasmagoria was in the same ballpark, but for that Sierra also constructed a studio to film it in that cost around 1.5 million dollars.

     
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tomimt - 17 September 2020 03:48 AM

It also needs to be mentioned, that many of the modern adventure games do have bigger budgets than what many of the old, classic games do. Back in the 90s game budgets that went to tens of millions were very rare. Even Wing Commander 3 that was considered to be a very expensive game thanks to the tech and Hollywood names attached to it cost around 4 to 5 million dollars. I think it might have been the most expensive game produced to that point in time (1994). Phantasmagoria was in the same ballpark, but for that Sierra also constructed a studio to film it in that cost around 1.5 million dollars.

But then you also need to mention that, due to inflation and higher costs and wages, those ‘90s budgets would need to be almost tripled to get the same results now…

     

The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka

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TimovieMan - 17 September 2020 04:13 AM

But then you also need to mention that, due to inflation and higher costs and wages, those ‘90s budgets would need to be almost tripled to get the same results now…

Sure, but on the same note, a modern dev studio can get away with off the shelf tools and rarely need to spend money on expensive research and building of tools. Multimillion-dollar budgets were hardly a norm during the 90s and when they did happen, they happened because there was a need to develop something completely new.

     

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