Name an Artsy game

[Ganthrinor]

darksiders has fantastic char design

If you exclude War himself from that statement I may be talked around to agreeing with you. Dude is a Beefstick that got covered in glue and rolled through a car parts store.




OT:

For a visually stunning world I'm actually going to suggest an MMO and say Aion.

I'm also gonna say Flower. Come on people, that game screams "Look at me, I'm arty!" for crying out loud.

yeah yeah I get it war isnt the future marine that you would rather be playing in a game

I don't see how future marines come into this. War is just a lump of... something covred in other miscellaneous lumps of somethings. His sword was cool though, and I did enjoy the design of Samael and the Gatekeepers

 

[Spiner909]

No More Heroes, Borderlands, Okami, etc.

 

[masher]

Though it's been said a thousand times by now: Okami!
and Borderlands.
and Flower.

 

[BlumiereBleck]

Twilight Princess, Oblivion, Fable 2

 

[theSovietConnection]

Saboteur.

What, I can't be the only one who thought the black and white with hints of red and blue was pure genius?

Nope, you're not. The visuals of that game were brilliant, and it played out more like how I was hoping RF:G would.

And again, I cannot say enough about the visual style.

Other games I would include would be inFamous and Bioshock.

 

[Hazy]

Throwing up No More Heroes.

It's cel-shaded art scheme with 8-bit, retro textures hint at Killer7, but even more so at the NES games of yesteryear.

And that's not even mentioning how important the story is in our daily lives.

 

[Twad]

ICO for crying out loud!

Oooh, indeed, that was a very nice game.

Okami, Braid.


Muramasa: The Demon Blade looks nice too, must find some place that has it so i can see for myself.

 

[FinalGamer]

Rez. And Braid.

 

[Mr.PlanetEater]

Braid, that game is a walking God sent painting that dispenses lovely music.
Killer 7, is pure ass kicking surreal trip...same with Psychonaughts.
Mother 3's soundtrack is beautifully made. Those are the only ones that come to my mind right now but they're all Arty in their own way.

 

[Aura Guardian]

Spoiler: This one

 

[FROGGEman2]

Okami and Flower.

 

[CloakedOne]

Bioshock. It is a beautifully rendered setting of a great story that offers a potent social commentary.

 

[boholikeu]

I have to say I'm a little surprised at the number of people only listing visually impressive games here. Games are quite capable of being mechanically artistic as well.

Well looking for story, which is the main artistic strength of video games, head for the Final Fantasy series.

But if you want the best of visual art along with great story and everything else, Okami. For freaking sure.

IMPORTANT: This seems like a good place to say this.

I am currently writing a book about video games as a storytelling medium. My goal is to create a general understanding, in gamers and non-gamers alike, of video games as an artistic storytelling medium. Problem is, I've been studying the subject for years: some things will slip by me, since I'm "too familiar" with my subject to look at it objectively.

So please PM me with any ideas, questions, or things that you would like to see covered in such a book.

Interesting, I think that the FF series is one of the worst examples of how video games can be a storytelling medium. Perhaps the older titles were pretty good for the times, yet the more recent ones rely far too much on other mediums (IE film) to tell their stories.

Don't mean to crap on your book idea or anything, but I'm just curious about what your argument would be to support your claim.

 

[KoudelkaMorgan]

Valkyria Chronicals. Excellent storytelling and visually appealing.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

I normally say Pac-Man and the reason why is that I say it is which should be more than enough for anyone. What do you want? Just play it.

I'm only replying though because I just found out that the 1984 prototypical "art game" Deus Ex Machina has a website with a lot of resources.

Here: http://www.deusexmachina2.com
Youtube playthrough starts here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwJBsYJ16IE

 

[Sleekgiant]

Lumines

 

[Carnagath]

Allow me to add the Syberia series to your lists, and of course the undeniable king of gaming as an artform, Homeworld (for too many reasons).

 

[Klumpfot]

Two GameCube games I'd like to add are Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem and Doshin the Giant. You probably will not find two games who are more different, though...

Anyways.

Eternal Darkness is a very atmospheric and masterfully told tale of Lovecraftian horrors, and has one of the best concepts in any game ever; the sanity meter. Basically, the more horrible things you see, the madder you get, and the game starts to behave rather bizarrely.

Doshin the Giant is a game in which you are a big yellow giant who wanders around lazily, helping or killing and maiming little villagers who will build monuments to honour or disgrace you. The game's a little obscure, maybe, but I like to pop it in occasionally.


I would also like to add the Metal Gear Solid series. It does get a lot of flak for writing that is, in some places, more than a little bit overdone. But;

The first game has some excellent scenes (Cyborg Ninja or Psycho Mantis, for instance) and the plot was solid (heh).
In the second game, I really like the parts when the AI starts messing with the head of the main character and you. "Fission Mailed", anyone? I need scissors! 61!
The third game has three parts in particular that struck me as wonderfully "artsy". The first is the boss fight (so-to-speak) against the Sorrow, wherein you wade through a river against a stream of all the people you have killed. The other is the fight against the End, who is a camouflaged sniper geezer. Finally, the fight against the Boss in a field of white flowers is executed very well.
The fourth game doesn't have quite as many "artsy" qualities. It is more or less a celebration of the preceding games. If you are inclined to be nice to it, that is. If not, it could be described as a ferocious self-wank. Though one could argue that the artistic value of the game lies in the attention to detail put in to almost everything in the game. From weapons to environments.

Finally, I want to add the Oddworld games. I can't describe them in any way that makes them justice. Just go and play them!

 

[The DSM]

Okami, its so beautiful....