How much do you value a games atmosphere?Most of the time, it's the main reason why some game will leave such a lasting impression on me. As much as I like to consider myself an 'old-school' gamer, very few games nowadays manage to win me over purely with their gameplay, with some noted exceptions. First, you have games that manage to hit my weak spot by basing their gameplay on the manipulation of 3D space or geometry in general (
Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2, Fez, Portal 1 & 2, Antichamber). Second, you have those platformers that aren't shooters but action or puzzle-based (
Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, Vessel).
But let's get back to the question. I love games that are primarily atmospheric, such as
Dear Esther which many people wouldn't even consider a game but an interactive story. But *man* did the ambiance grab me. The whole 'game' takes place on a seemingly deserted island where people used to live and there's really nothing to do except follow a general path across the island, through some caves and finally up to a lighthouse while hearing the protagonist's (i.e. your) thoughts at random and trying to piece together what you're talking about and why you're on this island. But the music and the graphics carry the whole thing incredibly well, and infinitely better than those of the original version which was a simple Half-Life 2 mod. Despite not being a real 'game' as such, I never regretted paying 10$ for it, given that I've paid more to see shorter and much worse movies.
Other recent games whose atmosphere made me immerse myself in them more than usual include
Amnesia: Dark Descent (I've only played about an hour but I was already quite scared despite not encountering any enemy yet),
Kairo (whose strange and sometimes *immense* rooms really got me thinking about what kind of place I might be trapped in, not to mention all the references to classical art and science) and
Machinarium whose graphics and soundtrack creates a very unique, strange and alien world of sentient robots where there's never any actual dialog but you always understand exactly what's going on.
Heck, I should mention both
Portal games again because although both feature a very different atmosphere, both are equally immersive. In the first, you really do feel utterly alone in a seemingly vast complex being operated by a defective and possibly dangerous AI and both the empty facility and the ambient music reflect that. While the second game features a more involved plot with twists and a more casual relationship with both Wheatley and GladOS, the atmosphere in general feels more menacing, in part because of the more 'mechanical' music. There are however beautiful parts where that feeling of solitude and helplessness do come back, such as when you fall all the way into the old Aperture facilities. You find yourself in this *huge* cavern that could very well be a mile or more in height, with huge columns that suggest that you're standing under the foundations of the modern facilities (which feels even more vast than in the first game but in a less claustrophobic way). You then start climbing the old test spheres while listening to the increasingly insane rants of the company's founder and for a while, the whole thing along with a more upbeat soundtrack feels kind of, I don't know, peaceful. Then you reach the top sphere and it's not finished, and the only elevator shaft leading back to the modern facility is destroyed and you have to portal you way through this vertical shaft lined with pipes with a bent in it which felt really disorienting and, I don't know, claustrophobic? I mean, you're standing on a slope in the middle of this shaft that's miles underground, yet miles *above* the bottom of the cavern, with this metal grate overhead and you wonder just alone and *trapped* you would be without your portal gun. You then make it above the grate, open this *huge* ceiling hatch and finally reach the underside of the modern facility. All you can see is a staircase leading up to the underside of the vast complex, with these huge springs/shock absorbers going back as far as the eye can see. If you've never played the game, all the above probably doesn't sound interesting at all, but I *live* for stuff like that, for this feeling of being inside a particularly impressive location with large, open spaces.
If you want to see the kind of physical (as in geometric) space that creates the sort of atmosphere I love,
check out the trailers for NaissanceE. I don't even care how limited the gameplay is, I just want to explore that place and lose myself in it.
Now, I can't come up with new questions at the moment, so I'll be lazy and just repeat the unanswered ones
A. Besides just enjoying games as they are, do you have any video game-related merchandise (i.e. books, plushes, figurines, etc.)?
B: Is there a game or series that's incredibly popular but you've never touched?
