To participate on this thread is essentially to give away some of my picks in the 50 games list thread. *shrugs* Oh well. This has been the best gaming generation to date in my opinion, so I've gotta chime in with some of my favorites.
Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor
This is basically a simulation of working class existence if you were an alien, which is pretty much what my life feels like. You find yourself cursed near the beginning of the game for trying to go on an adventure like everyone else does (the curse being essentially a metaphor for depression and other mental illnesses) and spend the rest of the game simply trying to make ends meet. No matter what you do, it always feels like you're doing something wrong; like there's something about the world you're just not getting that others do; some secret to success others know and you just don't. Every time you seem to be getting ahead, disaster strikes and you lose everything.
Diaries isn't a "sadness porn" game though. On the contrary, the game's world is bright and colorful and there's lots of humor to it, including lots of satire of real life. Like the role religion plays. You have to pray routinely for better luck and it has an actual impact...until you've done so for long enough and then your prayers become less effective until you switch to worshiping another deity. You have to go through this process many times. Or take the role of gender. You play as a female beast character, but at the spaceport where you live and work, your character's sex has been rendered impertinent next to something immaterial called "gender" that has to be regularly bought lest you fall into a state of blindness. (There are many to choose from on the market.) You'll sometimes find a delicious meal on the cheap. You can celebrate holidays with music and eventually overcome the curse (again, essentially mental illness) even though doing so doesn't actually improve your station in life. Little victories and amusements like these make the game worth playing to me. Spiritually, I'd call it ToeJam & Earl as a poverty simulation. It's basically a reminder to appreciate the little joys of life and that life is still worth living.
Gone Home, Butterfly Soup, and The Last of Us Part II
There are many different reasons why I appreciate each of these games, but there's one thing they all have in common: these have been the three first video games (outside the "yuri" genre that is) I'm aware of to center lesbian protagonists; two being smaller indie games and one being obviously a AAA release. To me anyway, that's not a small development. It has made a significant difference to even just occasionally feel seen in this medium. Like I'm not used to that; to any real acknowledgment of the validity of my sexuality. This last generation or so has seen that start change across a whole swath of media really and, as a result, I feel more attached thereto, including to this medium, than I ever have in the past. Just the occasional acknowledgment that, ya know, that aspect of my life matters and isn't wrong and such, makes me feel much more like there's a place in the world for me. Maybe not a prominent or popular one, but a place. Anyway, that's a significant factor in my appreciation of these three games.
Spiritfarer and Celeste
These are just wonderfully enjoyable games narratively centering on navigating depression, anxiety, and loss respectively and on the challenge of self-acceptance and self-love. I dunno, they're just the right combination of fun to play, charming, and personal. Video games have rarely touched on topics like these seriously before this last decade or so, and more particularly recent years.
Crypt of the NecroDancer
This is like the ultimate casual game in my mind! You don't necessarily want to play it in long sieges, but in the right dosage it can be downright euphoric, at least for me! The dungeon-crawling rhythm game format really stands out as unique and, while very challenging, is also absolutely transporting to master. This is one of very few games that can actually cause me to feel like I've escaped the reality of my life for a while. Crypt of the NecroDancer's soundtrack is also the best soundtrack in this medium as far as I'm concerned. I often listen to the OST with or without playing the game.
There are a TON of others I could mention here that have meant something to me, like...
Kentucky Route Zero
Death Stranding
What Remains of Edith Finch
Uncharted 4 and The Lost Legacy both
A Plague Tale: Innocence
A Short Hike
Return of the Obra Dinn
Night in the Woods
Donut County
...and others that have just made me laugh, like Untitled Goose Game and Gato Roboto and others, but it would be entirely too much work to lay out the reasons for each of these. I mean I wouldn't say that any of my picks here have particularly changed the overall landscape or trajectory of gaming as a medium, but they've all been really valuable to me. It's been the best gaming generation for me so far and, whether others are or not, I'm actually quite looking forward to the rest of this new, 9th generation too!
Last edited by Jaicee - on 14 November 2020
