I'm curious what you guys have to say about this. Are there any games you consider perfect? Can a game even be perfect?
My example of a perfect game is always Portal 1. Portal 2 has more going on, but in 1 there just isn't anything to shave off. From start to end, there is nothing I'd change about the game. It's short, infinitely replayable, great pacing. I like Portal 2 a lot in concept, in concept it should be a perfect sequel, but it just doesn't keep the extreme tightness of the original game.
Shadow of The Colossus. Archetypal hero type fights 16 giant monsters to save his dead love. There's literally nothing else in The Forbidden Lands save for lizards and platforming puzzles. You're playing to see what the next colossus looks like. It's a game pared down to its barest essentials.
Also: absolutely incredible graphics, it's actually confusing to me how the PS2 can handle it.
By deciding that dipping to 10fps at times is acceptable you can really push computer graphics on any platform to the limit.
This whole video is worth a watch if you haven't seen it before, but consider specifically what they manage to make the N64 do starting at 50:45 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNbkv_DJ0f0
I'll say it's kind of spoiling the magic of the video somewhat to jump to its conclusion, but that's where the custom graphics are implemented.
You should play the remake, it’s truly incredible.
I have it, I'm planning on playing it someday! Literally the only thing on my PS5 that I'm interested in playing :P
This is kind of a niche thing to praise, but I haven't played any game before or since that "gets" riding a horse quite as well as Shadow of the Colossus does. The way that your horse has a mind of its own but mostly listens to you is tuned so perfectly that if you go from SotC to any other horse game (say RDR2) you'll feel like you're driving a go kart in comparison.
And the fucked up thing is that RDR2 is still better than the vast majority of games in that regard