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.

  • invalidusernamelol [he/him]
    ·
    11 months ago

    I think a perfect game is just a game that successfully accomplishes it's story or mechanical goals.

    Rainworld, Stellaris, AoE2, StarCraft, Disco Elysium, and Doom (the OG one) all come to mind as games that had a very clear vision and accomplished them.

    • SerLava [he/him]
      ·
      11 months ago

      Doom 2016 and Eternal are also so impressive. They couldnt break ground like the original, but they're right up there in terms of satisfying gameplay, knowing your identity, and cutting out all the useless bullshit. A more worthy successor I don't know of.

      The moment at the beginning of 2016 where the robot guy starts blabbering backstory at you for about 3 seconds, until your character gets bored and wrenches the comms console out of the wall and throws it away like garbage... I still get chills.

      • CrushKillDestroySwag
        ·
        11 months ago

        Doom 2016 felt like the perfect reply to all of the trends that Call of Duty started and everybody else copied. It was so fresh when it came out - Eternal might be a better game in a lot of ways but it didn't floor me the way 2016 did.

        • SerLava [he/him]
          ·
          11 months ago

          Exactly the same experience. Eternal was an exciting and impressive iteration but it started closer to the ceiling.

          There was a moment in Eternal though, the greatest one of any of the games:

          spoiler

          When you finally, finally manage to kill the Doom Hunter - the demon on the hovercraft.

          It kills you over and over again, but you manage to eke out a win. The floor opens up and you jump down to the next area. WHERE YOU HAVE TO FIGHT TWO OF THE FUCKING THINGS AT ONCE.

          My jaw actually dropped and I said YOU MOTHER FUCKERS. It was so fucking wild. What a boss move. The absolute sense of humor. One of my fondest gaming memories. NOBODY else, NO other studio has the balls to do that.