Years later, did these games pass their best-before date?

[Darwock]

I know almost every game worth mentioning was the in-thing at one point or another, but when you don’t have the option to play a new release (lack of time or money) the hype eventually dies down… or maybe something comes along that knocks it off the ‘best-in-genre’ perch it was on and it gets forgotten.

 

I have a long list of games I *nearly* bought (much longer than the list of those I ever did buy). I was browsing my PS Plus library tonight and there were a few that have been on that list. They could be old hat now though (or dependent  on an online population that no longer exists), so… is it worth spending time on them in 2022? Three that jumped out:

 

FEZ

The Witness

Hollow Knight

 

I’ve sort of been turned off the first two just through hearing more than I wanted to about the people that made them, but that’s probably a stupid reason to ignore what could still be a great game. Puzzle games are probably quite timeless.

[pinholestar]

The Witness is a masterpiece. One of the most beautifully designed games I’ve ever played.

[Girth Certificate]

Yeah the latter 2 are still the best games in their respective genres (Hollow Knight by a long way). I never liked Fez but I doubt it's aged badly if you liked it to start with.

[Tomdominer]

I do think this makes a great counter argument for people who say "wait until the game is under £20 before buying anything". I always enjoy getting a real classic day one / near to release, so you can read the discussion here, and join in and understand what the fuss is all about.

[Cyhwuhx]

Both The Witness and Hollow Knight are still incredibly fresh.

[bradigor]

Fuck Jonathan Blow he is a horrible piece of shit. 

.

To a lesser extent Phil Fish too but I did play FEZ s Switch release as I believe he had nothing to do with it coming out and possibly gets very little from it.

 

I like Hollow Knight but it's not my favourite in the genre so I've had my fill.

[RubberJohnny]

I don't think so, I'd say AAA games become dated or old hat a lot quicker than indie games, just because of the heavy trend chasing, whereas a lot of these you're mentioning still stand apart, y'know?

 

Like if a AAA game has bunch of facebook integration it's ~2013, if it has a bunch of loot crates then it's ~2015, if it has a battle pass it's post 2017, etc. But there's still nothing like the Witness.

[chris on the moon]

I thought both the witness and hollow night were horrible but I don't think that's anything to do with ageing. I don't think games age the way they used to.

[Graham S]

I’ve recently watched that Sudoku guy play through the Witness on YouTube and it was still terrific. 

[Fry Crayola]

I still adore Fez, there's not much like it and it's a wonderfully absorbing puzzle-platformer with a superb soundtrack. I don't think it will age at all.

[thesnwmn]

I replayed FEZ this year on Switch. Still amazing. I don't think this will age badly at all, or likely be challenged in terms of what it does.

 

I also dabbled with The Witness again. I still think it's great but it couldn't recapture the magic on re-play through. But I think it will remain fantastic for new players for some time to come. It's most likely issue will be graphics because it's a 3D game but it's quite stylised and on PC so could probably be improved by modders if necessary in future.

 

Others I think would be interesting to think about in this context:

• Braid
• Baba is You

Maybe most interesting is that to me most games that might fit into this sort of long term quality are all puzzle games, or at least have puzzling tendencies. The nature of the genre is that a good puzzle is a good puzzle I think. 10 years later it can still be as mind bending.

[hereticboy]

Yeah, nothing has grabbed me in the same way Fez has. It's the one game I wish I could play fresh again, not knowing anything about it, just because there's been nothing since that's quite scratched the same itch.

[Paulando]

1 hour ago, pinholestar said:

The Witness is a masterpiece. One of the most beautifully designed games I’ve ever played.

This. Easily one of my top games of all time, and far more than a puzzle game.

 

I don’t think any of the games you listed will age much at all, they’re all pretty timeless.

 

Also, Return of the Obra Dinn.

[MarkN]

I haven't played Hollow Knight (yet, but mean to).

 

I loved Fez to bits, and do plan to play it again, because I never quite completed it first time. Enjoyed The Witness too, but not as much as many did. They're both games that are very clever, and will make you feel smart when you solve the puzzles, but Fez has a game-ish joy to it, whereas The Witness feels a bit po-faced in comparison (to me at least). I think the balance shifted a little too - in Fez I felt I was clever for solving the puzzles, but in The Witness, because the puzzles are so obviously just exercises to work through, I found myself thinking the puzzles were clever, rather than that I was for solving them. Possibly just me...

[K]

I haven't played Fez in years, but I can't imagine that it'll have aged that much given that it took a deliberately retro genre and aesthetic, and introduced a mechanic that nobody else has used since. 

[therearerules]

All three are still fantastic, one of them was made by a dickhead. Get them played.

[Made of Ghosts]

Hollow Knight, Braid and The Witness are all-time greats for me. They’d all be in my top 20 these days. 

 

Fez is good fun but doesn't fully live up to its promise - maybe it was better if you played it at release with everyone collaborating online on the hardest puzzles (which I never really bothered with). 

 

Baba Is You went beyond my mental capacities quicker than I would’ve ideally liked... so I kinda resent it even though it’s fantastic. 

[Trumpets]

Yes, yes and yes. As already mentioned The Witness especially is an all-time classic.

[Sabreman]

I got bored of The Witness after about 4 hours and bounced off Hollow Knight... but I think Fez is one of the greatest video games ever made. I'll go to bat for Phil Fish as well, clearly someone with at least serious depression issues if nothing else, who took a ton of shit from entitled dickheads and responded by telling them to go fuck themselves.

[GamesGamesGames]

Three great games. Hollow Knight not quite as great as the other two.

[MarkN]

16 minutes ago, Sabreman said:

I'll go to bat for Phil Fish as well, clearly someone with at least serious depression issues if nothing else, who took a ton of shit from entitled dickheads and responded by telling them to go fuck themselves.

Very much this. Their treatment of him was exactly what's wrong with the internet today (still). The guy poured his heart and soul and into that game, and talentless fucking nobodies forced him away from the industry with their petty bitching and whining. I'm glad he told them to fuck off, but the cunts who did it probably saw it as vindication of their small-minded, miserable position rather than the wake-up call it should have been.

[Fletch]

Never played The Witness is it on the xbox? 

 

Fez and Braid didn't really grab me and I didn't like the art style of Hollow Knight so a lot of these forum favourites have passed me by. 

[Jamie John]

All three are 10/10 all timers. I got the platinum on Witness and Fez and completely rinsed HK on the Switch, and the DLC, because I loved all three games so much.

[BadgerFarmer]

2 hours ago, thesnwmn said:

Others I think would be interesting to think about in this context:

• Braid
• Baba is You

Maybe most interesting is that to me most games that might fit into this sort of long term quality are all puzzle games, or at least have puzzling tendencies. The nature of the genre is that a good puzzle is a good puzzle I think. 10 years later it can still be as mind bending.

Baba Is You isn't likely to age. It's very minimalist in style and won't be surpassed at what it does. It does require a lot of effort and patience to get the most out of it though.

[Majora]

All three are still brilliant. It's a shame Blow turned out to be a dickhead but if you got the game through Plus then at least you can rationalise that you didn't directly give him money for it.

[Angles Morts]

I played Fez for the first time last year and I thought it was excellent.

[David Kenny]

Fez and The Witness are so unique I don't think they'll ever really age. Each one really is a staggering achievement and they play just as well today as they did on release. Hollow Knight isn't as unique, although it is a brilliant example of its genre.

 

I'd think the idea of a best before date applies more readily to the latest game in those identikit franchise titles that appear so regularly, sell so well, and offer so little over their predecessor. The feel pretty irrelevant once the next game comes out.

[robdood]

Truly good games don't age. 

 

Only the bad ones expire. 

[dumpster]

I'm not the gamer I used to be, I still yearn for arcade style action that doesn't seem to get made any more.  I'm very excited to play Ridge Racer 6 when I'm next at home.  But there's a definite something to being a day one uberfan in that your discovery and enjoyment of a new game is enhanced by discussion on the forum. For the most part I do wait and pick up games at the price I feel warrants my attention (TLOU2 for £15 at Argos for example) but there's a great deal of benefit to playing a game while everyone else on the forum is doing the same.

 

[Darwock]

Thanks for all the responses - given what’s been said, it seems like Hollow Knight is the one most likely to become obsolete in the future as it is a genre title, rather than something unique - so I’ll probably play that first.