Which game(s) do you consider a 'masterpiece'.

[Sheikah_Witch]

Everyone have a different definiton of the word 'masterpiece'. To some, it's a great game - to some It's unattainable. To some, it's just a word. So I figured it'd make for an interesting thread. What's a 'masterpiece' to you? And what game(s) do you consider to be one?

For me, it's Ocarina of Time. It's not my favorite Zelda, but it really excels in what it sets out to do and given the context of it's time and place, I think it's near flawless.


EDIT: Realized that this is in the wrong subforum. If mod wants to move it, feel free!

 

[Spirit]

For me, I would call a game a masterpiece if it manages to enrich my life. A masterpiece has to be good but it has has to be meaningful and give me feelings and memories that I'll always want to keep dear to me.

So, here are some of my personal masterpieces;

The Wind Waker
Super Mario Odyssey
Nier Automata
Metroid Prime
Shadow of the Colossus
Journey
Ocarina of Time
Majora's Mask

 

[Dio]

Ocarina of Time is the masterpiece of the 20th century. There is no major fault with it even to this day. It has something for everyone. It's light-hearted, humourous and whimsical sometimes and other times it's scary and dark.

I would say The Witcher 3 is the masterpiece for the 21st century (so far). Its the ultimate fantasy RPG. Captivating and technically brilliant in many aspects including storytelling and music. With the best DLC I have ever seen.

 

[Cfrock]

Maybe a bit vague but I'd probably say a masterpiece is any game that resonates with me on multiple levels — whether in terms of gameplay, world design, art, narrative, or atmosphere — and sticks with me, under my skin, long after I finish playing.

Dishonored and Dishonored 2 would be examples of this for me. The gameplay is so unbelievable, giving the player so many options to be creative and solve problems their own way within sandboxes that are built to encourage player expression. Arkane are so ****ing good at game and level design, so ****ing good. On top of the gameplay is the phenomenal world building they do in the two games, so good that I did a presentation on Dishonored as part of the world building module I did at uni (a module for which I got a first ).

Thief 2 is a masterpiece to me because, like Dishonored, it has such excellent gameplay and world building (both were made by some of the same people) but Thief 2's robust level creation tools have allowed fans to create their own missions and even entire game-length expansions. This wealth of fan-made missions makes Thief 2 one of the most content rich games in existence, and new missions are still being made to this day. Seriously, the most recent fan mission was released last Thursday. For a twenty year old game. It has to be good to sustain that kind of creative engagement from its fans.

As much as I'm a 'gameplay is king' kind of person I feel compelled to include Gone Home as a masterpiece. I didn't think I'd like it at all, but I spent five or six hours in the Greenbriar house and I still get chills when I think back over it. The game is almost unparalleled for me in terms of atmosphere, and the way environmental details are used to create a truly deep vision and understanding of a family in crisis is nothing short of masterful. It's an engaging, moving, haunting experience, and it's all achieved with a subtlety and confidence that has burned it into my memory since. Play this game.

Some honourable mentions:
Resident Evil (2002), Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil 6 (fite me), Resident Evil 2 (2019)
Halo Reach
Morrowind
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodines
Majora's Mask

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

what came to mind for me right away are Metal Gear Solid 4 and Super Mario Galaxy, many other games in either series could fit the bill too but I feel those two in particular left a huge impression on me that elevates them to something beyond a video game

and of course I would consider my own favorite games masterpieces as well w/ a few exceptions

 

[Jirohnagi]

Games that've redefined a genre i think would be masterpieces or games that have done it sooo damn well that they are nothing short of perfect

Such as:

Hollow Knight
OOT
Dark Souls
Terraria (yes i think it's a masterpiece so damn good and so variable)
Minecraft (for much the same reason as terraria)

 

[Castle]

Ocarina of Time certainly fits the bill for a video game masterpiece. It revolutionized gaming and established so many tenants of modern 3D gaming which are fundamental mainstays today.

Virtual Camera Control
Six Way Analogue Directional Movement
Cutscene Rigging and Cinematography
Lock On Targeting and Aiming
Contextual 3D Environmental Interaction

It didn't just establish these modern mechanics for a new technological era in video games, it executed them flawlessly while presenting an epic, entertaining, and meaningful gameplay experience in its own right.

Thief: The Dark Project was the Ocarina of Time of the personal computer. The narrative storytelling, 3D environmental technology and sheer brilliance of its level design was the future of video games. An honorable mention goes to Deus Ex for its similar impact at roughly the same time.

By far the most underrated gaming masterpiece, however, is Cyan World's enigmatic Myst and its sequel Riven. Myst absolutely blew up the gaming scene back in 1993, where it sparked something of a cultural revolution in gaming, drove hardware sales on its popularity alone and brought non-gamers into the fold with its ease of use, accessibility and advanced presentation. Myst is largely responsible for the wide spread adoption of the CD-ROM drive. Mainstream media sources wrote pieces on the phenomenon, making it one of the first video games to garner wide spread attention amongst the non-gaming demographic. Finally, non-gamers were seriously discussing the potential of video games as an art form. While its Hypercard technology slide show presentation didn't technically make it a real time 3D engine, Myst's 3D graphics were beyond what any other game had achieved at the time.

But what Cyan had established with Myst, they refined and cranked up to 11 with its highly anticipated sequel, Riven. While Myst's narrative seemed somewhat incidental, for Riven Cyan's storytellers took to creating a fully fledged, believable world, character histories, and the real beginnings of a fully fledged mythology. If Myst's graphics were profound, Riven's were absolutely gobsmacking. The photorealistic imaging Riven accomplished is even unsurpassed to this day among some AAA titles. Myst's puzzles were engaging and challenging, but Riven's were absolutely fiendish, and all of them were integrated believably into Riven's living breathing world. More than anything, Cyan crafted a real world with Riven, rendered down to the finest detail. And the narrative on display, with its largely visual storytelling, advanced nonlinearity, heavy themes and astounding circular structure that even ties back into Myst are utterly brilliant. And the soundtrack is one of video game's best.

Myst represents an alternate evolutionary path that video games might have taken, but that unfortunately largely ended with Riven. The popularity of today's "walking simulators" don't hold a candle to their illustrious predecessor. Myst and Riven are one of gaming's most prolific "what-could-have-beens." They were trend setters that made a massive impact, but sadly the effect they had on video games hardly resonates today.