Recently indie games and other "arty" things have focused

Atmosphere, the fruits of exploration, good story/ characters.
1.Earthbound. Not winning awards for great gameplay. But fits the bill so hard in every other category.
There are many games like this. But will draw the ire of shitlords. Games like Zelda 2, Castlevania, Getsu Fuuma Den, Shenmue. They are legendary but gameplay is not the reason why.

>>3731943
Zelda 2? What's so outstanding about it? Not shitposting, genuinely curious. I've played it and didn't think it was anything outstanding in a particular field, just a fun little game.

>>3731948
Love it or hate it. It's one of those games that people pick one side of. I liked the exploration. Some of it cryptic, but it's very rewarding. Progressing and learning new moves is great. Getting the downward thrust still gets me high. Not the greatest game play. But all the other tangibles are why I love it.

>>3731948

Zelda 2 is ambitious as fuck. There's really nothing like it.

>>3731943
but the point of the question was what retro games can be memorable and great for their gameplay providing meaning, not connecting with the characters or the game being fun. but your mentioning of exploration is a great point.

>>3731969
I thought it was the exact opposie where gameplay was not the main draw. Go play early nes games, or arcade games from the early 80's. They are all gameplay based. With one gimmick or objective being the only thing that matters.

>>3731974
yeah I agree with that but I think OP is asking for games like that where they used that simplistic gameplay to convey something greater. could be completely wrong though.

silent hill 1

>>3731980
I don't know anything about any of the games he's talking about so it's hard to have an opinion

>>3731980

Tetris is a game that lets you feel what it's like to be impaired with OCD.

OP is a retard, Ueda games are shit. Vydia is not art, because outside of classic arts the term is meaningless.

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Any Osamu Sato game.

>>3732057
t. /v/

>>3731943

Gameplay is absolutely why Castlevania is legendary

Atmosphere is great too but CV1 is a masterpiece of game and level design

>>3731901

It's hard to list something like this because a large part of the reason Ico was so widely praised in it's heyday is because nothing else had really used the gameplay to tie the player into the story in the same way; or at least not nearly as effectively.

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>>3731901

>>3732157

I love Ecco but how do ya figure?

>>3732149
OP here. Completely agree with you, it really started to be a thing in newer generations. But hopefully there's some examples from before 1999

>>3731901
The games that inspired that inspired Team Ico in the first place, cinematic platformers like: Prince of Persia, Another World, Flashback, Abe's Oddysse, Heart of Darkness and Lara Croft.

>>3732204
isn't cinematic the exact opposite of the question though, since those are games trying to be movies instead of using their key selling point of gameplay?

>>3732157
What game is this?

>>3731901
Something like Deus Ex Machina on 8 bit computers could be regarded as an art game, but is probably too primitive/ eurocentric to count I suspect.

>>3732207
Ico is pretty much Another World in 3D.

>>3731901
Loom> any Ueda game

>>3731901
>have focused on gameplay being the defining part of video games as a whole
>like pic related and other Ueda games.
bad joke

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Out of this World / Another World is really one of the most obvious ones to come to mind. The gameplay is clunky, but the focus on atmosphere and storytelling was so profound that it directly influenced Fumito Ueda and many other game creators.

Personally, I also feel that Myst and Riven are games that fit incredibly well under this category too. The way they unified storytelling and environmental design was absolutely wonderful, and Riven in particular evoked the feeling of being in a living, breathing world.

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>>3731901
The Longest Journey.

>>3732221

I can't tell if you're serious

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As has been pointed out already, this kind of thing is really a more recent development in games, but there are definitely a few retro games that have this design philosophy. I just can't seem to think of many.

The first one that jumps to mind is Metal Gear Solid (and the rest of the MGS series too, but they're not retro). The Psycho Mantis boss fight is a good example of, as OP puts it, games that use gameplay for more than just fun. It was a clever way to break the fourth wall and express the nature of Mantis' powers to the player. The original MGS is probably the 'sanest' game in the series and Mantis really stood out as being a character who had undeniably supernatural powers in an otherwise (somewhat) realistic military espionage setting. The idea of switching controller ports to beat the boss clearly isn't there as a fun game mechanic, but to illustrate this to the player and use it to enrich Psycho Mantis' character.

There's probably a bunch more examples in the original MGS, and there's definitely lots more in the later entries in the series.

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Metroid and it's solo exploration = isolation

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do shmups count?

pic unrelated

Lester the Unlikely is a pretty good example of that, the execution just wasn't any fun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qssl3qKwvQ

>>3732221
Chuck Person's Eccojams Volume 1

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>>3731943
Earthbound, or really the entire mother series, kinda fit that role. The final battles are meant to be a balance of story and gameplay which I personally feel are well done. I'll keep it retro and use M2, even though I feel M3 is a better example. The battle against giygas is great because it allows you to reflect on your adventure. Seeing everyone pray for you is powerful as it shows how because of your dedication to these people they genuinely grew to care for you.

>>3731901
You sure that's what they're trying to do and it's not just that they're incapable of making fun games?

>>3734452

Not OP but if that's not what they were trying to do it's really impressive that they accomplished it and the game's are still masterpieces.

>>3732057
Dwarf fortress is in MoMa your argument is invalid

Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask fucked me up, and just about every modern action adventure game copies them

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>>3731901
Probably the most Ueda-ish /vr/ game is Riven.
And maybe Silent Hill.

>>3732057
>SotC is shit
>Vydia is not art
>outside of classic arts the term is meaningless
You should seriously consider therapy. Probably too late though, just kys.

>>3732207
How are those games trying to be movies you retard? They're the opposite of that, they use the gameplay to tell the story instead of cutscenes or text.

>>3735230
I think they just meant cinematic is a scary word

>>3735229
he is wrong but games are not art.

>>3732283
Really? Fuck gonna try it

>>3735679
You need to stop playing shit.

This will attract shit posting but Majoras Mask with the three day mechanic. Or rather than the three day mechanic, I should say the reset mechanic. Seeing your work undone is discouraging, but that ties into the theme of building relationships despite them being impermanent, which I think is a pretty big part of the game.

Almost every quest and side quest is about circumstances keeping two people apart despite them wanting to be together. This feeling is even what starts Links journey to Termina, he's out looking for Navi. A big part of a primary antagonist's motivation is that he feels spurned from his old friends leaving him, not understanding that they had to and that strong relationships with other people continue to exist even if you can't keep seeing that person. By resetting things and losing progress you see the struggle (and ultimate futility) in trying to maintain things forever, and when you break the three day cycle is when the antagonist (and Link) are able to accept the transience of relationships, and understand that that transience doesn't take away from the personal significance and meaning that those relationships have to them. And that parable marks the redemption of an antagonist, and is the wisdom that the hero takes with him on the journey home, if you want to put it in a monomyth context.

Of course, many of the side quests also drive home the point that you need to put work and effort into seeing a person if you want to keep seeing them. Or just wait for some elf kid to do it for you, but the point wouldn't be driven home as much of the player wasn't the one helping people out.

Honestly the game is pretty thematically consistent, and a lot of that comes from the game's mechanics and rules.

>>3737073
I explained this to a guy who hated this game and his girlfriend cried about how beautiful it was.

>>3737073

Thank to Lord Koizumi Yoshiaki for a great and overlooked game.

>>3731901
pretty much most good games in general are based on gameplay more then anything, because if the story is good but the gameplay is shit people are gonna be pissed off. if the story is shit but the gameplay is good you have super mario 64.

>>3731901
>Recently

>>3737073
Well said.

>>3737769

I think you sort of missed the point there

>>3737853
yeah this is definitely a recent thing, as of like gen 5. please provide counter examples.