Benny

I hope you like WERDS

 

 

83. Horizon: Zero Dawn

 

 

(Relative position and change based on 2017 scoring: 98, New!)

 

Now this is a surprise. Maybe it’s people are looking back on the first game more fondly now that the sequel is out and is encouraging some reappraisal. All signs seem to be pointing to it getting it right first time, with a sprawling adventure that actually respects your time and wants you to discover stuff for yourself. Capricious map icons notwithstanding. 

 

I had some other thoughts once:

 

“Let's get this out of the way first: Horizon is an astoundingly beautiful game. Perhaps one of the greatest examples of visual design and execution alone elevating an experience currently available in the medium. Whether traipsing across vast, rusty mountains or splashing through wooded swamps, there is world detail and graphical flair here that in many ways even eclipses that found in games like The Witcher 3. The effort expended in creating a living, breathing place where everything feels at once familiar yet alien is nothing short of remarkable.

 

Open world games cannot dine out alone on looking amazing however, and if Yakuza 0 is an example of how an open world game can be condensed into a very small space packed with activities, Horizon: Zero Dawn is a fine demonstration of how to still sprinkle them effectively around a larger, yet absurdly lavish environment. The world map is teeming with things to do and places to visit, and affords the game dozens of hours seeking these out while enveloping yourself in the game’s unique feel.

 

Yet here is where the cracks in this established form of questing start to show: by showing the player what they generally have available on the map before they set off, the surprise and sense of exploration is already diminished. And with a compass showing points of interest nearby, the goal becomes not to take things at your own pace and wander off the beaten track, but the entire focus of player agency gets condensed into that little yellow goal symbol on your HUD, forever drawing the player away from discovery and onto the path they were originally following. There is nothing inherently wrong with this form of design: it simply becomes an objective based game rather than one that relies on the player’s own agency, but when faced with such an incredible looking world, it can start to make it feel small.

 

This artificial feeling contraction of space extends to traversal - the paths a player can take between major areas are separated by gated points, with the fastest way to get between places often to follow the roads between. If you stray off these paths you may come across a cliff face that is easier to go around rather than attempt to scale, as Aloy is not able to climb to most high spaces unless there are predefined points of entry, with a telltale yellow rope or well defined ledge. For a game that on the surface appears to offer an open world, it is actually more like a set of sectioned off large arenas, with often very specific paths through them.

 

Yet the deadly machines Horizon fills these arenas with are the real star of the gameplay show, and it is here that you realise the game is not really about exploration: the quests you pick up throughout the game are intended to quickly push you towards where the meat of the game lies: combat.

 

When the illusion works, there is something uncanny about how these beasts move. Machine herds grazing in the distance with their glowing blue lights illuminating through trees can be a distinctly unnerving and thrilling sight. Some will run away when spooked, but almost all will take exception to your presence and attack. The nuts and bolts of the game are found in the moments that follow, as you systematically target sections on the machines to take them down, whether by setting them on fire, tying them down, or laying traps across their expected paths. At its best this is truly thrilling - your hunting prowess limited by your own skill in tracking and aiming precision. However, at its worst, it can quickly descend into uncontrollable chaos. Usually, when stealth gives way, enemies will attack in large groups, so if you have not been methodical in reducing threats you will be quickly overwhelmed. Dodging most enemies is a very hit and miss affair, and all will charge at you often quicker than you can react if they are in a large group. Occasionally the environment itself can conspire against you too, as attempting to run away can often be met with an impassable wall or another group of enemies. Make no mistake: this is not an easy game, and every fight needs to generally be approached with caution, or it can quickly feel like you have lost control.

 

Part of these problems can perhaps stem from a very simple thing: the camera is very close to the main character at all times. This means a significant field of your view is obscured, and makes for seeing threats approaching from the sides harder to react to. There is a very strange side effect going where this also means the sense of scale in the game is slightly diminished, as it’s more difficult to see the relative scale of everything when this close to compare a frame of reference.

 

Where this camera proximity is welcome however, is in making the main character very much a centerpiece, and Aloy is a wonderful protagonist. Her movements have real weight and deliberation about them, her skill as a hunter comes across in every twitch and footfall. And it’s a shame it’s still a notable thing, but it’s refreshing to have a capable female lead in such a high profile game that is often treated with respect and admiration as a capable hero and savour.

 

The story itself is an interesting one, and does an excellent job of involving you in this strange and quite unique world, with twists and turns along the way. However, if anything it is perhaps too interested in the story it is trying to tell near the beginning, as it takes several hours before freedom is truly granted to the player to start making their own way. Nowadays it feels a little archaic to have so much preamble when so much of this world’s story is imparted better when it is letting you discover it for yourself.

 

Horizon: Zero Dawn represents an interesting branching point in the evolution of gaming, as it stands as perhaps a logical endpoint for one of the most solid implementations of many of the sorts of open world systems and tropes that have now become familiar over the years. It is truly absorbing, keeps the player entertained with sprawling quests, and is packed with content. But it’s just as well it came out when it did, because the very foundations of open world games would soon be shaken, and changed forever...”

 

 

 

 

82. Disco Elysium

 

 

(Relative position and change based on 2017 scoring: 64, New!)

 

Thank God this got onto the top 100. If it hadn’t I would have obviously torn the whole thing up and started again. What I’m saying is this is a very special game indeed.

 

I found it very hard to review in such a way that doesn’t spoil any surprises, as it’s such a rich and personal experience, but here was my previous effort to extol the virtues of Revachol:

 

“There will be those that try to tell you the standard of writing to be found in gaming is almost universally bad. They are not generally being fair, and are usually ignoring that the craft that has come on in leaps and bounds over the years, but every so often something comes along that makes all other efforts look as pedestrian as that time Bioshock Infinite tried to rub itself off on critics pretending to be something profound.

 

It is very rare then to encounter writing in a game that is not only actually profound at times, but pushes the envelope for understanding of character and very human behaviour that rivals that found in more celebrated works of literary fiction, rather than the often intensely bland interactions and tired stereotypes that plague so much of modern gaming or indeed much of writing in popular media.

 

In Disco Elysium you are a broken person, most likely an alcoholic, and exactly how broken is also for you as a player to determine. This is not some glossed over or glamorous Hollywood portrayal of alcoholism and drug dependency either - but the full exploration of the darker aspects of these things through the lense of a washed up cop trying to solve a murder, in a fictional yet very familiar depiction of a collapsing society.

 

Taking the form of a traditional role playing game at first glance (you have your character that can interact with people and objects in the game world, and “party” members), the actual structure of the game is more akin to an interactive detective novel, where gradually piecing together what is going on through dialogue is the primary means of progress. There is no fighting here, no tedious grind for experience or items. Everything has its place and everything is used only in a way that it can further the storytelling.

 

And oh! What dialogue. The people you interact with will by no means treat you in the ways you might expect - you are not the sole focus of attention for these characters and the way you will be treated or the things these characters say will often shock, as their behaviour and agendas feel as organic in their intent as interactions in the real world. Everything is grey, everything is murky, and your presence is at best tolerated rather than acknowledged.

 

And yet it is still the internal character struggle that takes pride of place as the most rewarding and interesting aspect of Disco Elysium. Your character’s “stats” are represented rather as different aspects of your character’s psyche, and every interaction in the game will be peppered with these “internal” voices advising you how to proceed for example or encouraging you to disobey the others, each one warring with others in your internal struggle to understand yourself. Taking drugs can improve your ability to, say, be better at discussing neo-liberal economics with an oddly alluring executive (yes and this isn’t the strangest thing that you will come across in the story), but you know that such actions are being encouraged by a part of your psyche that seems to not have your long term interests at heart…

 

Ultimately, this is a game about actually interacting with people. Not just interacting, but engaging with them. And in that sense it has a lot to say about the issues facing the world today. It's as hot and relevant and topical as they come, and the writing is frequently, hilariously, on point, and it understands and plays with what you may be thinking while reading it.

 

Disco Elysium is an absolute masterpiece of world building, storytelling, meaningful character interaction, and ultimately an absorbing mystery to be peeled away, layer by speed addled layer. It is not a nice world, and it is not a safely sanitised one, but it is one you should definitely visit sometime.”

 

 

 

 

 

81. Super Monkey Ball

 

 

(Relative position and change based on 2017 scoring: 89, down 34)

 

I miss games like Monkey Ball.

 

There was a moment in gaming history where games like this were a real event. Where such a simple, maddening game of dexterity could capture the imaginations of a huge number of people, because Sega knew exactly what they were doing. After the failure of the Dreamcast, they decided it was time to go hell for leather and by golly they would positively force the fun into people’s living rooms, even if it meant sleeping with the enemy.

 

There have been numerous sequels since, but none match the purity of the original, or the perfect multiplayer.

 

I still think what I said in 2015 is true:

 

“Ah Monkey Ball. One of the most teeth grindingly frustrating and yet incredibly rewarding games you can probably ever play. The video gaming equivalent of one of those games where you have to thread a loop over and around a piece of copper wire without setting off the buzzer, only much more sadistic.

 

The Gamecube controller suited the game perfectly, and had just the right level of fine control for the game to never feel like it was anything other than entirely your own fault when the hapless simian plummeted to his death.

 

The multiplayer modes are truly something else, and can elevate a party from mere jocularity to rioting in seconds.

 

It's a shame the sequel relied too much on stupid random chance on some of its courses, as then player death lost some of its sting when it was not always your own hands that were to blame, but the original is still one of the purest slices of gaming excellence of perhaps the last 20 years.

 

It is also one of the few games that can be played entirely one-handed.”

85. Animal Crossing: New Horizons

 

 

(Relative position and change based on 2017 scoring: 70, New!)

 

The darling of the pandemic, AC:NH came along at just the right time for a lot of people. We couldn’t visit each other but we could visit our friends’ little virtual homesteads, with all the crippling mortgage debt, endless, endless busywork and unfinished DIY projects all present and correct - just like real life! 

 

This is how I felt about it in 2020:

 

“There are very few games I could describe as furnishing me with a sense of almost complete and total relaxation, like a warm comfort blanket that just engulfs you and makes you feel the snuggest sense of wellbeing. Breath of the Wild is one such game for me. Now too is Animal Crossing.

 

I never really got Animal Crossing in the past, always thinking it just looked like an awful lot of busywork for no real gain or purpose. But then the first lockdown began, and everyone was jumping aboard, so figured what the hell, might as well make this my first dip of my toes into this serie… HOLY SHIT I CAN WEAR WHAT?!

 

I am now a convert. The funny thing is, my initial assumptions were not actually wrong: but it is such good busywork. And who needs more purpose than the desire to decorate your little house with it’s own little kitchen… And maybe a gym… Also a big bathroom would be nice… Perhaps a little writing desk in the living room...”

 

I also advise you check out Jolly’s lovely review in the games of the year 2020 thread.

 

 

 

84. Resident Evil 2

 

 

(Relative position and change based on 2017 scoring: 102, down 41)

 

AHA! I tricked you…

 

I never actually played the original Resident Evil 2, as after loving the first game I bounded right into the arms of Code Veronica on the Dreamcast with its much shinier and more terrifying graphics.

 

So when I was thinking about whether I should plug the gaps in my gaming knowledge by finally playing one of the previous top 100 winners… I went straight for the version with shinier graphics. While this entry is for the original Resident Evil 2, a true classic, the remake was also a mere hair away from a top 100 placing, and is the game I will review here.

 

Look, I won’t kid myself or anyone else that the Resident Evil 2 Remake is really at all similar to the original, and should really be considered to be a wholly original work in all but name, but you can absolutely see the care with which Capcom went through the elements that made the original Resident Evil games great. They tried to recreate the same kind of fear, tension and atmosphere that you remember in your head from those games, even with some of the weird jankiness that went with them.

 

Obtuse puzzles are mostly streamlined, though the fastidious interface interaction when manipulating objects and navigating menus is still present, which by intentional or unintentional quirk of design makes you feel like you're playing a modern classic of the genre - something weird and odd and likely to have cult appeal over big budget ambitions.

 

And yet the budget is anything but slight: the RE game engine brings to life classic locations and characters in loving, eye watering, grisly and horrifying detail, as though the original Resident Evil 2 game disc was held aloft and blasted with the power of Grayskull.

 

But it is sound design where the game really comes into its own, and one very specific enemy will form your “soundtrack” for most of th…

 

*thump*, *thump, *thump*... *thump*

 

Sorry, did you hear that? Anyway, as I was saying…

 

*THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP*

 

Holy shit! Oh fuck oh shit oh fu

 

87. Wave Race 64

 

 

(Relative position and change based on 2017 scoring: 109, down 38)

 

I never really got into Wave Race 64 back in the times of yore. I only ever borrowed it and it seemed fun enough, but whenever I was playing it I just kept thinking about F-Zero X, like I’d been cheating on it somehow.

 

Anyway, in retrospect, what an impressive piece of technical wizardry it was for the time. What still holds up today is the relaxing atmosphere and gentle vibes.

 

Far too chill for a hot blooded teenager who wanted to race futuristic hover cars really fast, but that’s the folly of youth.

 

 

 

86. Outer Wilds

 

 

(Relative position and change based on 2017 scoring: 106, New!)

 

Very pleasing to see a debut from Outer Wilds. One of the most interesting and clever games to come out in the last ten years, and an absolute class act in terms of demonstrating how games can elicit real moments of exploratory wonder.

 

It’s also, genuinely, one of the scariest games I’ve ever played, and I had to take regular breaks just because of an oddly unshakable sense of growing existential dread whenever I played it. There wasn’t anything that scary specifically on its own, but the sound design, atmosphere, sense of urgency and general weirdness comes together in a terrifying gestalt that captures the true awfulness of space in one tiny package.

 

I also did a little “bit” for it in the 2019 awards:

 

“I wake with a gasp.

 

I am an astronaut. An archaeologist. An adventurer. My goal is knowledge; an understanding of the universe. I have known no conflict, only the violence of stellar destruction. Wrapped up somewhere in this solar system is the answer to saving everything, and I just have to find it.

 

I have explored many worlds, have seen sights no other being has seen. I have floated, silently, stranded in the inky blackness of space, with twinkling stars my only witness as I take my final breaths.

 

I have plunged to depths of icy darkness, and been thrown into vortexes beyond comprehension.

 

I have died, over and over and over, searching for answers. Yet each time I return, armed with greater understanding to forge my path ahead.

 

At times I shiver from the loneliness, as I hear nothing but the sound of my footsteps as I trudge carefully over dangerous terrain. I bring up my signal receiver and hear the faint sounds of banjo strings, the other side of the world. Someone else is out here, and it gives me comfort.

 

As I uncover strange hieroglyphs hidden in ancient structures, a drama from the past plays out in front of my eyes. Who were these people? How did they get here? Why did they leave?

 

All these questions and more will have to wait. I look up, and the sky has turned red. I gaze, transfixed, as the awesome power of the cosmos is revealed to me in one brief, awful moment.

 

In a few moments I will wake up again. But I know what I have to do.”