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Video game that made you first say “this is art”
- Thread starter Lamiafusion
- Start date
Maybe FF7
Beautiful soundtrack. Gorgeous Pre-rendered backgrounds that immerse you into the world.
At the time it just felt more mesmerizing than any cartoon or film.
Beautiful soundtrack. Gorgeous Pre-rendered backgrounds that immerse you into the world.
At the time it just felt more mesmerizing than any cartoon or film.
Shout out to mentions of Bioshock and 999, those are both real good picks, at least in terms of pop/blockbuster art. Other answers of the top of my head that are good would be MGS2, Dark Souls, Super Metroid, DOOM, Tetris, TLoU, and many others come to mind.
If I had to pick something I'd be the most confident in elevating as my go-to answer for the question "What game qualifies as a piece of high art?" it would be Shadow if the Colossus, simply for the fact that it completely, top-to-bottom utilizes every aspect of the medium to convey its themes and its narrative and it all just works. The music, the animations and controls, the pacing, the ebb and flow of each colossus encounter, the environmental clues and world design, it's a hugely confident statement that is a genuine masterpiece, in my opinion.
If I had to pick something I'd be the most confident in elevating as my go-to answer for the question "What game qualifies as a piece of high art?" it would be Shadow if the Colossus, simply for the fact that it completely, top-to-bottom utilizes every aspect of the medium to convey its themes and its narrative and it all just works. The music, the animations and controls, the pacing, the ebb and flow of each colossus encounter, the environmental clues and world design, it's a hugely confident statement that is a genuine masterpiece, in my opinion.
this is gonna sound crazy, but fighting games when you land that combo you saw a pro do or you were practicing for a long time.
That, to me, is art. The first time i did i jump in combo with guile in sf2 is a feeling that you can't describe, you feel the awe.
Likewise, watching a high level match in a fighting game can be akin to masterful display of skill.
Watching marlinpie's marvel loops in MVC3....amazing.
That, to me, is art. The first time i did i jump in combo with guile in sf2 is a feeling that you can't describe, you feel the awe.
Likewise, watching a high level match in a fighting game can be akin to masterful display of skill.
Watching marlinpie's marvel loops in MVC3....amazing.
Well, i always have thought by definition any media created by people is defined as art, but the first time a game wowed me by doing something no other media could do to engage the person consuming was Eternal Darkness and it's sanity effects, which is more akin to the feeling other people would define as "videogames as art".
Gonna also echo a bit of this, high level Street Fighter is like watching a highly precise ballet.
Gonna also echo a bit of this, high level Street Fighter is like watching a highly precise ballet.
Deep down I think I always thought (err, knew) they were art, but the first time I actually thought about it probably was with Portal 2. Before that game I guess I just didn't care about definying things.
it never occurred to me that they weren't. first games i played as a kid were things like fate of atlantis where i was like "okay, so it's like a book but also a movie, so that's cool"
i loved death stranding, but i kind of doubt there's anyone who would enjoy it that doesn't already consider video games to be an art form. it'd be completely obtuse to anyone without the patience to get through it.
i loved death stranding, but i kind of doubt there's anyone who would enjoy it that doesn't already consider video games to be an art form. it'd be completely obtuse to anyone without the patience to get through it.
Killer 7
I'm still a Suda mark to this game because of this game.
Such a unique vision for games that man has. Never played anything quite as Lynchian and bold prior or since.
I'm still a Suda mark to this game because of this game.
Such a unique vision for games that man has. Never played anything quite as Lynchian and bold prior or since.
lol
The one that comes to mind, but I'm positive it's not the first is The Last of Us. It's just the one I can think of first that elicited such an emotional response (again, there's no way it's not the first for me, just "first to mind").
First one that made me realize that games are more than levels, high scores, and brainless time-sinks was Shadow of the Colossus.
It still felt very video-gamey when I first played it because of the "bosses" and it didn't get across to me until I beat it that it was more than a boss hunt. Once I beat it I had to sit and reflect at what I just experienced because it was so different from my norm. It didn't hit me until years later that it was an absolute work of art.
First one that made me realize that games can be simple enough yet enjoyable and calming was flOwer
It was more of an experience than a game, but it was something that was absolutely needed in the industry when it came out. It came out around the birth of the indie scene and the first peak of the online shooter. It showed that games don't have to be violent to be enjoyable, it was a masterpiece that took the world by storm when it came out, and is often regarded as a hidden masterpiece.
First one that made me realize that games are the pinnacle of art was Journey.
There has yet to be a game that merges gameplay, music, visuals, tone, ease of play, multiplayer, story, and emotional impact at the level that Journey has managed to achieve. This was the first game, after having experienced Shadow and Flower, that made me realize that games are the perfect collaboration of all forms of art.
It still felt very video-gamey when I first played it because of the "bosses" and it didn't get across to me until I beat it that it was more than a boss hunt. Once I beat it I had to sit and reflect at what I just experienced because it was so different from my norm. It didn't hit me until years later that it was an absolute work of art.
First one that made me realize that games can be simple enough yet enjoyable and calming was flOwer
It was more of an experience than a game, but it was something that was absolutely needed in the industry when it came out. It came out around the birth of the indie scene and the first peak of the online shooter. It showed that games don't have to be violent to be enjoyable, it was a masterpiece that took the world by storm when it came out, and is often regarded as a hidden masterpiece.
First one that made me realize that games are the pinnacle of art was Journey.
There has yet to be a game that merges gameplay, music, visuals, tone, ease of play, multiplayer, story, and emotional impact at the level that Journey has managed to achieve. This was the first game, after having experienced Shadow and Flower, that made me realize that games are the perfect collaboration of all forms of art.
Shadow of the Colossus for me. That game definitely brought in another level of artistry and emotion to games that I hadn't experienced before.
Flower also was a big one. That is a game that showed me that the medium can be more art than "game" and still be just as good of an experience.
Flower also was a big one. That is a game that showed me that the medium can be more art than "game" and still be just as good of an experience.
Damn this is exactly what I wanted to say before entering this thread. SotC on ps2 was the first time i said to myself "yeah, this is it". I was kinda young so I didn't even think about it before and with this game, it just hit me. This is art.
I think I'll never forget the weekend I discovered this gem.
Edit: as some have said before me, flowers and Journey opened my eyes to new experiences too. It felt fresh and powerful at the time.
A couple months ago I had a conversation with my brother about the little things that made fighting games awesome. One of the things I remember was those little storylines that emerge during competitive play, not only the birth of rivalries between players, like Go1 and Sonicfox's legendary DBFZ cold war but also the rise of villains in players and characters like everyone rooting for Chris G to lose during EVO top 8 or all the tech to try to stop Dark Phoenix.
It's something that other artistic mediums can't quite replicate, and makes them closer to sports than art but also some sports are art like dance, figure skating, gymnastics, etc.
I guess those labels sometimes are a bit restrictive and can be bent or even broken by certain exceptions.
Ctrl+F
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (not found)
For shame ERA.
My jaw dropped seeing it for the first time as a kid back in the day.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (not found)
For shame ERA.
My jaw dropped seeing it for the first time as a kid back in the day.
I'll probably elaborate later but I'm currently experiencing Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice and hooooooly shit at this game. Not only is it a looker on my Xbox One X, the entire psychosis angle is sooo well done and then those brief moments of reprise, with incredible musical cues, are just the best.
I don't think there ever really was a point, after I started really understanding "art" as a concept, that I didn't just consider games art to begin with? Like... they had soundtracks, storylines, visuals. Why wouldn't I treat them as art, like TV shows and/or movies?
Alex Kidd in High Tech World has a suit of armor that you can wear that immediately immobilizes you and gives you a game over. One of your map pieces gets burned. You can call a friend to bring you something to restore burned paper, but if you don't get to him in a timely manner, "Thanks for keeping me waiting! GAME OVER" There's a minigame the prince Alex Kidd plays to see if he can tell his servants apart.
In your search to find a ticket to the arcade, you can find a book at the pawn shop called something like "How to Forge Tickets to the Arcade." If you buy it, you are immediately arrested for possessing contraband. The real solution is to go to the shrine and pray 100 times for an arcade ticket. Eventually someone will overhear you and give you one.
In between these adventure game segments are incredibly difficult platforming sections with altogether too many ninjas. You have infinite lives, but a timer is counting down.
The game ends with Alex in the arcade, saying "Wow! These Sega games are great!"
What a masterpiece.
In your search to find a ticket to the arcade, you can find a book at the pawn shop called something like "How to Forge Tickets to the Arcade." If you buy it, you are immediately arrested for possessing contraband. The real solution is to go to the shrine and pray 100 times for an arcade ticket. Eventually someone will overhear you and give you one.
In between these adventure game segments are incredibly difficult platforming sections with altogether too many ninjas. You have infinite lives, but a timer is counting down.
The game ends with Alex in the arcade, saying "Wow! These Sega games are great!"
What a masterpiece.
I'd go with this as well. The entire game I'd had the feeling that this was different from anything I'd ever played before - and this was after anticipating it since I first saw some shots in a magazine - but I recall getting to the final scene on the beach where it really sunk it what a step forward this was for narrative videogames.
^ Clearly emulated but you get the point
This absolutely blew me away... but I think I was too young (10) to really know what the fuck to label it. In retrospect, "this is art" would have clearly fit the bill. Interestingly, i think Ueda has actually cited Another World as an inspiration.
The "first time"?
To me, art is representative of it's time period and this was such a 90s game with tons of references to what was cool at the time. Hip hop music, funky beats, b boy dancing, getting rid of losers, attitude, throwing trash around, hightop sneakers, thick sunglasses backwards baseball caps, ALIENS, etc beatboxing... Man it was too cool for school. It was a pretty fun coop sidescroller.
Comix zone was one as well:
This needs no explanation. But this game has aged so well.
To me, art is representative of it's time period and this was such a 90s game with tons of references to what was cool at the time. Hip hop music, funky beats, b boy dancing, getting rid of losers, attitude, throwing trash around, hightop sneakers, thick sunglasses backwards baseball caps, ALIENS, etc beatboxing... Man it was too cool for school. It was a pretty fun coop sidescroller.
Comix zone was one as well:
This needs no explanation. But this game has aged so well.
Yep. Rez. Especially Rez infinite: Area X in VR. Transcendent is the only word i can think of to describe it.
also SOTC
Flower, then Journey. But now I regard all games as art (not all necessarily good art, but art nonetheless).
Final Fantasy VI. Experiencing the opera sequence for the first time felt like such a mind blowing elevation of how I viewed video games as a medium.
I feel like a lot of you are missing WHY games are an artform outside of their visual/storytelling aspects.
The idea is not to emulate existing artforms, even if those aspects can be artistic themselves.
Games which are art achieve that precisely because they do things other forms cannot. Through their interactivity.
The idea is not to emulate existing artforms, even if those aspects can be artistic themselves.
Games which are art achieve that precisely because they do things other forms cannot. Through their interactivity.
I think it might have been Secret of Monkey Island, as it was very different to most games I've played before. The heavy focus on story and writing without any fail states, it was not about progressing levels, beating high scores or killing enemies. As even it's take on combat was done through the dialogue with insult sword fighting, which I thought was really clever. No other game had transferred me to another world and made me invested in the journey as much, the atmosphere was incredible. And while there's of course challenge through the puzzles, it's very different than precise execution of platforming levels in example.