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I hadn't played any games yet. I'm sorry.
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I lived in a lil' country town. You played whatever game you could get. For some reason, my sister and I had Age of Mythology. These days, I have little to do with it or any real-time strategy games in general, but it served as one of the very first games played by a young me. Even if I didn't understand it much. And still don't.
Image reference: (wikipedia 2022, Age of Mythology, wikipedia, viewed 1 March 2022 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Mythology) -
Another introductory game for young me was Minecraft, which has remained with me on the side as something to play with my sibling on occasion. I imagine the idea of building whatever I liked appealed well to young me, as it did to many others.
Image reference: Minecraft wiki N/A, Grass Block, Minecraft wiki, viewed 1 March 2022 https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Grass_Block -
Halo: Combat Evolved was the first shooting game I ever played. Although my tastes have since evolved a bit, the shooter would be my preference for some time to come, and to this day, the world and lore of the Halo universe remains of interest to me, perhaps more than it used to.
Image reference: Frank, A 2018, It took me 17 years to play Halo - and now I love it, Polygon, viewed 2 March 2022 https://www.polygon.com/2018/6/1/17416948/halo-combat-evolved-pc-is-good -
Half-Life 2, Portal and Team Fortress 2 are all games I would play nigh-excessively in my childhood. I don't even want to talk about how many hours went into Team Fortress.
Although I may have since moved on from these games, the lessons they teach in game design keep reappearing wherever I look, and I'll always see them as something special for that.
Image reference: (wikipedia 2022, The Orange Box, wikipedia, viewed 1 March 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Orange_Box -
I really like the way that Skyrim's open world blends different environments and locales together in such a seamless way, as well as its' capacity to simulate a world in which citizens will go about their lives regardless of player intervention.
Image reference: PJ'sgames N/A, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Legendary Edition, viewed 2 March 2022 https://www.pjsgames.com/products/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-legendary-edition-steam-cd-key -
I'm no fan of the Wild West, but Gunslinger's quick pace, satisfying gameplay and especially its' comic use of an unreliable narrator to tell most of the story makes it a very enjoyable, relatively quick experience I've enjoyed many times now. I hope to employ similarly sharp character writing in my own creations one day.
Image reference: wallpaper safari N/A, Call of Juarez Gunslinger wallpaper, viewed 2 March 2022 https://wallpapersafari.com/call-of-juarez-gunslinger-wallpaper/ -
'Tis strange the way it became so quickly my favourite game. The stealth gameplay itself is relatively unremarkable and perhaps derivative of many a game released earlier, but the game's characters, story and most noticeably the atmosphere feel deeply heartfelt and have remained with me ever since.
Image reference: Moyse, C 2019, Review: A Plague Tale - Innocence, Destructoid, viewed 28 November 2022, https://www.destructoid.com/reviews/review-a-plague-tale-innocence/ -
Characterised by its' brutal dismissal or even punishment of the player's efforts, it piqued my curiosity about how game design can be used to inspire a variety of feelings besides, or even in place of, fun. This game is akin to staring into a gritty, confronting painting. The involvement of the player within that painting is deeply engaging and unique.
Image reference: (Darklife 2019, Pathologic 2 Preview, mulehorngaming, viewed 1 March 2022) https://mulehorngaming.com/pathologic-2-preview/ -
I don't think I would have appreciated this game so much had I played it earlier. Now, it and its' sequels have come to make up my list of favourite games, alongside Innocence. I love these games' focus on story and character and particularly the player's capacity to interact with and even influence the world and the events which shape it. Such concepts have become the most compelling thing to me, in game design.
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I found Origins' world compelling enough, but Dragon Age II adjusts its' aesthetics to separate further from the very traditional fantasy look of Origins, and its' story focusses on the aspects of the world that I found most compelling and most contributed to Dragon Age's uniqueness.
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Following up on what II started, Inquisition is both one of the most beautiful and aesthetically distinctive fantasy games ever, and focusses on the most interesting aspects of Dragon Age - the position of faith, belief systems and religious institutions in a world that undeniably has magic. The question of how they interact in the world is deeply compelling to me.
Image: Dragon Age Wiki N/A, War table (Haven), viewed 1 March 2022 https://dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/War_table_(Haven)