Is Hidetaka Miyazaki the Best Game Creator of All Time?

[Zachary_Games]

I said yes. Been gaming since 1994. Miyazaki has created the most important game series and genre of my lifetime. The souls series (and Bloodborne) are the most impactful games since Zelda OoT, MM, TWW, and TP released over a decade stretch.

Miyazaki has been that dude.

 

[lucablight]

Agreed.

Even going through "contenders" in this thread exposes how narrow Era's frame of reference is.

If it's not AAA it's not even on the table.

Entire swaths of the industry go completely ignored because they apparently they don't reach some kind of presentation & budget threshold.

Why isn't anyone talking about the Adams brothers, creators of arguably the most complex & immersive games of all time, Dwarf Fortress?

What about Gary Grigsby who similarly designs the most detailed & intricate hex-wargames on the market?

Many on Era have this problem with talking in global absolutes when in reality their frame of reference is sadly myopic.

It's why I said earlier there never will be a GOAT lead developer as the field is simply to diverse in content to even measure such a claim with any authority.

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I reject your assertion that something is not on the table just because it's not AAA. Demons souls certainly wasn't a AAA title when it was released.

 

[redflamingolingo]

Not sure why you made my post about you, but it was a point about the question in general. It's a stretch to ask, "Who's the greatest game developer ever" to everyone blankly. It's like the Jordan vs Lebron debate. Of course you'll have people amongst various age ranges voting for one or the other, but the numbers tend to skew if the person wasn't even alive, or just a baby/toddler, while Jordan was active.

My point about Miyamoto was separate. But as I said, if you go by sheer impact on the gaming industry as a whole, across generations, it's hard to find a single creater that has equivalent credentials as him.

Everyone's entitled to their own opinion though.

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I see what you mean. I was just reiterating that my opinion is formed by growing up with multiple games and genres, I suppose.

I agree that Miyamoto is the most influential game creator of all time. I guess influence is one thing, and I greatly respect all his contributions to the medium. But outside of Mario 64 and Mario 3, I don't care much for the games for which he has directing credits.

 

[zashga]

There would probably be a better argument here if the Soulsbornering games were more distinct from one another. Don't get me wrong, I love these games and I'm ~50 hours into Elden Ring already, but Miyazaki and From definitely have a specific type of game that they make. It's a testament to how well they make it that we can have this discussion at all.

I'd be more inclined to give the nod to someone like Miyamoto or Suzuki who excel and innovate in multiple genres over the course of their career, but I'm also somewhat leery about solitary attribution in general. Even Miyamoto relied on hundreds of other people to actually make "his" games.

 

[Chucker]

The games are good but it's (not actually) the same game 6 times. He's very good at the one trick he knows.

 

[POOPLE]

"Man Elden Ring hyperbole in full force! this is why i don't interact with people who play souls games!"

Yeah that would really just suck if there was like one game that its biggest fans compared nigh every other game to in really absurd hyperbolic terms for FIVE YEARS! despite not everyone enjoying its game play systems and the constant comparison being tiring...yep..Elden Ring Honeymoon period though.

 

[redflamingolingo]

No it's not. It's about which lead creator you think is the best. There's even a disclaimer/explanation:

At this point you're just arguing in bad faith.


The thread title said "best", not "most influential". "Best" is evidently subjective and personal.

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I'm not arguing.

 

[Morrigan]

I'm not arguing.

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lol this wasn't aimed at you! I was quoting you to counter what the other person was saying. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[Mass Effect]

No. Sure he's up there, but the likes of Miyamoto, Aonuma, Romero/Carmack, perhaps even Sakurai, are above him.

This is why I never want anything to do with Souls' fans in gaming discourse. They're a hive-minded cult at this point.

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Large portions of this site are split into (gaming related) cult-like factions and have been for years, so it's not like this is something new here.

 

[henhowc]

No

 

[Boy]

Nahh, i don't believe in a single best game creator of all time. They all offer something unique.

 

[angelgrievous]

When people discuss the best rapper, director, basketball player, etc it is not the same as a person's favorite.

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Why do you care if a random person claims their opinion is objective or not?

 

[redflamingolingo]

When people discuss the best rapper, director, basketball player, etc it is not the same as a person's favorite.

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I meant it to be subjective, so I understand why so many people are upset and throwing around Souls fanboy antagonism if they think I was creating an objective conversation around who is the greatest, best, etc.

I was curious about people's opinions and where they think Miyazaki stacks in the canon of great game creators/contributors. Nothing more. I certainly didn't intend to flame.

I think he is the best. My opinion, with evidence to support why I feel the way I feel, just like a lot of people are supporting their stance on the matter. I find it all interesting, and I think that Miyazaki will only continue to further cement himself as one of the greats over the next decade.

 

[pg2g]

Why do you care if a random person claims their opinion is objective or not?

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I dont, but this is a post on a forum so we are having a discussion.

 

[pg2g]

I meant it to be subjective, so I understand why so many people are upset and throwing around Souls fanboy antagonism if they think I was creating an objective conversation around who is the greatest, best, etc.

I was curious about people's opinions and where they think Miyazaki stacks in the cannon of great game creators/contributors. Nothing more. I certainly didn't intend to flame.

I think he is the best. My opinion, with evidence to support why I feel the way I feel, just like a lot of people are supporting their stance on the matter. I find it all interesting, and I think that Miyazaki will only continue to further cement himself as one of the greats over the next decade.

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Definitely no harm there. I think these types of discussions can go wrong (as you have seen) when people aren't coming from a similar set of criteria.

I was just highlighting the fact that people had different criteria.

 

[lucablight]

The games are good but it's (not actually) the same game 6 times. He's very good at the one trick he knows.

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This is reductionist as hell. Can you use grappling hooks in the souls game? Is there an open world you can traverse on horseback? Can you level up and equip armour in Sekiro? If it's just the same game over and over then people would be complaining about the series becoming stale. Instead every game has been released to mass critical acclaim.

 

[Mass Effect]

Why do you care if a random person claims their opinion is objective or not?

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This is a discussion forum, and everyone claiming their opinion as objective would go poorly very quickly.

I mean we, as a community, already have enough trouble talking about the most innocuous things as is.

 

[redflamingolingo]

lol this wasn't aimed at you! I was quoting you to counter what the other person was saying. Sorry for the confusion.

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Oh, haha! I see now. My bad :-)

 

[Xterrian]

"Man Elden Ring hyperbole in full force! this is why i don't interact with people who play souls games!"

Yeah that would really just suck if there was like one game that its biggest fans compared nigh every other game to in really absurd hyperbolic terms for FIVE YEARS! despite not everyone enjoying its game play systems and the constant comparison being tiring...yep..Elden Ring Honeymoon period though.

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If you're gonna make a snarky post, you should at least have the courage to come out and say you're talking about breath of the wild.

 

[Dremorak]

lol I can't tell what is parody and what is serious anymore.

 

[Vulcano's Assistant]

Having a strong style to the point that all their works appear similar is not necessarily a negative. It its a thing that happens in all forms of art.

Take famous architects for example, you can have a favorite maybe because they pursued an aesthetic that really pleases you throughout their career. Frank Lloyd Wright has a style that you know and identify even when others are copying it, and they have a big impact even if they didn't design huge infrastructure like suspension bridges that would require great skill and engineering knowledge.

Unlike sports, in arts the greatest are rarely the most skilled.

 

[Version 3.0]

That's pretty much where I'm at. Miyamoto has had too many amazing games across multiple decades and genres. He's untouchable. I do think ER cements Miyazaki as one of the all-time greats, though.

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Yep.

The Souls series is a serious contender for best of all time, IMO. For him to come out strong like that, with a string of genre-defining greats, is absolutely worthy of admiration. And it certainly makes him worth mentioning as a contender. But it's a big industry, and there are a lot of greats.

But above all of those, stands Miyamoto. No one else has a shot at being the consensus GOAT in this industry, only him. His resume is unmatched, and quite frankly, I don't see how it ever could be matched. It's simply no longer possible to do the kind of foundational, inspirational work he did. He was arguably the most impactful single person in making video games into the entertainment giant that they are today.

 

[JonnyTorso]

So, granted, I haven't played elden ring yet since I don't think it'll launch on my PC (GTX 670), but based on his other works I would be hesitant to put him up there with the Miyamotos and Suzuki's of the world. He seemingly created a niche subgenre and really nailed it (I got on the demon's souls train in college while my roommates were losing their minds over modern warfare 2). That being said it's pretty iterative work. I don't mean that in a negative way, but looking at the choices I'd personally rank someone like mikami higher based on the pure joy that is resident evil and god hand. Kamiya in that realm too has done a superb job with stuff like DMC and Bayonetta, but also branched out and created special games like Okami and Viewtiful Joe.

I think the itagaki comparison is one I can get behind. Masterful execution in a genre, although I would say he's surpassed him by now. Is he the lead on the armored core games as well.

There's certainly nothing wrong with being in that tier though. Impressive stuff, I just would call him the greatest of all time. Suda51s is my favorite game director of all time but I don't think he's anywhere near the best of the best.

 

[sph3re]

Miyamoto is a fountain of game design knowledge, check out this gem

 

[Rosebud]

Agreed.

Even going through "contenders" in this thread exposes how narrow Era's frame of reference is.

If it's not AAA it's not even on the table.

Entire swaths of the industry go completely ignored because they apparently they don't reach some kind of presentation & budget threshold.

Why isn't anyone talking about the Adams brothers, creators of arguably the most complex & immersive games of all time, Dwarf Fortress?

What about Gary Grigsby who similarly designs the most detailed & intricate hex-wargames on the market?

Many on Era have this problem with talking in global absolutes when in reality their frame of reference is sadly myopic.

It's why I said earlier there never will be a GOAT lead developer as the field is simply to diverse in content to even measure such a claim with any authority.

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Good post.

 

[pg2g]

Todd Howard might also be a pretty good analog to Miyazaki. He's definitely been on a good and long run with Elder Scrolls and Fallout.

 

[The Silver]

*puts on tinfoil*

Clearly this whole thread is a psy-op designed to create backlash towards Miyazaki after the success of Elden Ring.

Now who would benefit from this.........yes it's exactly who you were thinking..........it's..

Spoiler

 

[The Bookerman]

Miyamoto is on a class of his own. Elden ring just came out and people like it. But common.

Miyazaki understands the current trends of game design and goes against them properly. That makes him great but not #1. Miyamoto's games shaped game design for years. I don't think miyazaki has reached this level.

I would go for those first : Miyamoto, Mikami, kojima.

 

[PaulloDEC]

1) There is no single "best" game creator.

2) Miyazaki is still leaning heavily on a template he created over a decade ago.

 

[Soul Skater]

He's a first ballot hall of famer for sure

 

[neon/drifter]

oh boy.

Hate to burst your bubble but that sounds like a one trick pony to me. He seems very very good at one genre and gameplay type. That my friend, does not make a "best game creator of all time."

 

[Tavernade]

I've really liked the games of his I've played but I feel like, for me to consider him the best at it, they'd need more variety. Like, if the discussion was about movie directors, Spielberg and Kurosawa have a lot more of variety in their work. It's also a bit hard to judge someone in what seems to still be their prime.

 

[brenobnfm]

Takashi Tezuka?

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I don't value these "family friendly" games from Nintendo as much as mature games, Super Metroid is the only Nintendo game from that era that belongs in a discussion with a Miyazaki directed game, even OG Demon's Souls. But if you like this kind of game, fair enough.

 

[mORTEN]

Y'all people really need to cool it.

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Yas.
He's done incredible things but the hype is pretty real.

 

[Musubi]

Its Kojima for me. Metal Gear Solid was the game that made me realize that videogames had more to offer than just being "a game" if you weren't around at the time to see the cultural impact of things like Metal Gear Solid 2 you can't possibly understand how crazy the shit Kojima has pulled off over his career is. He's also not one note either.

He did get pigeon holed into doing a LOT of Metal Gear for awhile but lets not forget Snatcher or Z.O.E or many of the other early projects he worked on and he is still innovating with Death Stranding. Can not wait to see what he does next.

 

[Vertpin]

This is def one of the weirdest honeymoon periods for a game.

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Honeymoon? The game is absolutely incredible. People aren't suddenly going to mass start disliking it in a few months. What a weird take.

 

[Melpomene]

GOAT mindset is a hell of a drug.

 

[slothrop]

I don't agree with this type of question. It is really reductive and bad to think of art along these lines. There is no one best game creator of all time, the same way there is not one best musician, painter, actor, director, sculptor, architect, etc. There are many people who excel and they are all likely revealing their own thing about their artform. We are enriched because we have the full variety of all their contributions not just some idea of one who transcends all the rest. It doesn't work like that

 

[Sparks]

*puts on tinfoil*

Clearly this whole thread is a psy-op designed to create backlash towards Miyazaki after the success of Elden Ring.

Now who would benefit from this.........yes it's exactly who you were thinking..........it's..

Spoiler

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Honestly tho. He could have easily been one of the greats, he was on such a great streak and I really liked the games and his vision. It's such a shame.

 

[Patrese86]

For me It's Kojima and Kaz Yamauchi. I completely get the Miyamoto shouts, I can't even reasonably argue, his games have been so influential just not on me and that put's me in the minorty I'm sure.

When I look at the games that have the most impact on me it's GT and MGS.

 

[Ploppee]

Will Wright deserves to be in the convo

 

[LauraLaMer]

This thread has some serious "Denis Villeneuve is the best movie director of all time" energy.

 

[Deleted member 45468]

Miyamoto and it isn't even close. He has done it across generational leaps like no other. This is a clear overreaction thread. Heck even the guy who did Zelda is above him. He does not even crack my top 5

 

[jaymzi]

Not yet. If he can great another amazing game that is completely different form the Souls formula he can be.

Coz let's be real, from Demon's Souls to Elden Ring they all share a very similar DNA.

Yeah he has made some Armored Core games and Deracine, but they weren't exactly well reviewed.

 

[srtrestre]

It's this guy

 

[Possum Armada]

Dan Houset should be on this list.

It's honestly making it very hard to enjoy games lately, the hyperbole is absolutely insane.

But I guess every time a great game comes out we get this weird Tribal fervor happening. Like I know some people that had to just leave their Twitter because they criticized Elden Ring a bit and just got berated to no end.

I'm trying to play Elden Ring and other games and it's making it challenging having all those thoughts in my brain. Something Jank or bad happens and I have to be like "really? THIS is the masterpiece?!" And it's such a shitty toxic habit, I just want to enjoy it haha.

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I've been putting every Elden Ring thread on ignore and I'm still having to put 3-4 new threads about the game on ignore every day. It just seems nuts.

 

[808s & Villainy]

I don't value these "family friendly" games from Nintendo as much as mature games, Super Metroid is the only Nintendo game from that era that belongs in a discussion with a Miyazaki directed game, even OG Demon's Souls. But if you like this kind of game, fair enough.

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You have a bizarre fixation on games being "mature" or "for kids". Like I've seen the arguments you've made in here and none of them can even discredit Miyamoto or Nintendo devs. It's just "It's kiddy so they don't count as much"

 

[Kalik]

I say Yes because I've never played any Shigeru Miyamoto games and looking at they list they seem much more simple and basic in terms of level design, world building etc compared to Miyazaki games

 

[brenobnfm]

You have a bizarre fixation on games being "mature" or "for kids". Like I've seen the arguments you've made in here and none of them can even discredit Miyamoto or Nintendo devs. It's just "It's kiddy so they don't count as much"

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They absolutely don't, it's like comparing Pixar movies to Godfather, they belong in 2 separate universes. Even the Oscars has different categories for the awards.

 

[PepperedHam]

They absolutely don't, it's like comparing Pixar movies to Godfather, they belong in 2 separate universes. Even the Oscars has different categories for the awards.

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Zelda games are just as intricately designed as a Souls game. It's just designed for all ages. Film critique is really different from how we should be analyzing games.