Games That Are More Visual Experiences Than Games

[A Link In Time]

I wasn't sure how to word this title, but I'm talking about the likes of Journey, Inside, and Gris.

These are games that are meant to suck you into their world and appreciate the visuals with gameplay being minimal platforming and puzzle solving.

Journey was probably the first game to popularize this. Its name is fitting because it's more about the journey than the destination.

Personally, these are some of my favorite games ever made. I have yet to get around to the newest one, Gris, but I really enjoyed Journey and Inside. Inside is probably the most surreal and emotionally evocative with its heart-pounding sequences in a dystopian world.

What are your thoughts on these types of games?

 

[Spirit]

Having played Gris it really is a 2D Journey and fantastic.

Abzu is made by the guy who did Journey so fans need to check that one out too.

Oh and the likes of Rez and Tetris Effect need a mention too.

 

[the8thark]

At least these games wear what they are on their sleeve proudly. Unlike Horizon Zero Dawn and similar that try to pretend that it's a whole complex game. Bull****. Horizon Zero Dawn is a great visual experience with a terrible pathetic excuse for a game tacked on.

Also Abzu and Journey were far from the first to do this or even popularise it. I remember playing the Endless Ocean games on the Wii. All you did there was look at the pretty fish while diving. Nothing else. For a Wii game it looked pretty good at the time.
I actually didn't like Journey. When these kind of visuals first games, I want to nkow what I'm looking at. With Journey, what am I looking at? None of this makes any sense. It's like abstract art. A mix of colours on the screen that means a whole lot of nothing. Sure it's not bad I guess but it's not for me. I prefer to know what I'm looking at. Diving games are a good example of this. I know what I am looking at is a fish or coral or a wreck or whatever. Being able to look at something and go, "yep that's a fish". That's what I look for in visual first games.

I am sure there are games made even earlier that attempted to do the same thing.

 

[Hero of Pizza Time]

Well most (if not all) games you can play in VR fit into this category, I have never heard of an HTC Vive game that has especially intricate gameplay mechanics.

As you said, most games like this are pretty good, but I can think of a game that is in this category yet massively disappointing: Star Wars Battlefront. It looked almost photorealistic at times and it sounded just as good, but EA's intention was only ever to take money out of the pockets of Star Wars fans.