Thread: Saddest Games
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Old 04-12-2012, 04:39 PM   #16
Brandon Raabit
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Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Athens, GA
Posts: 2
Re: Saddest Games

First let me say hello everyone! I'm still new to the community so I'll be in your care.

Now sad games. What I love about this thread is that is shows there's value in games that transcends the quantifiable. For me, games have always existed on two levels: entertainment and experience. There are plenty of games that operate under the level of game design where I'm given mechanics and a goal to achieve. In fact, how most Iphone games operate and that's fine because they're fun but I consider them closer akin to sports than I do games. I've always considered real games to provide me with an experience and if it's a well made game that experience is often challenging.

Games that have made me feel sad, well there's a long list but most of my memorable ones are the old JRPGs (Final Fantasy 7-10, Legend of Dragoon, ect). At the time I never considered why though probably because I was a pre-teen and felt a lot of feelings on a daily basis. Looking back on it, it was about the characters and living vicariously through them. Even if they didn't always do what I wanted, it was their experiences and their feelings that were conveyed that often left me as a mushy pile of emotions.

I'm not sure if it's me or if it's the current game industry but it's rare to feel that way anymore. I played Super Columbine Massacre RPG a few years back and that's when my perspective on games changed.

The game is exactly as it sounds, it's not graphic due to the fact it was made on RPG Maker 2000 but the content is real. Hyper real actually and that creates a disturbing sense of alienation to the situation as well. Now I don't believe games should emulate this model but I do believe that what this game promises is at the heart of what makes game a unique art form. The promise of an experience, of an interaction, of a perspective that is naturally unattainable through any other means.

That's when games make me sad. Sorry that this became a rant and thanks to those that listened.
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