A non-traditional gamer I know just bought a PS4. Ostensibly for Just Dance and other party games, but she’s also asked for some other games to play, so here’s some of my faves in no particular order.
ICO / Shadow of the Colossus
ICO was released in 2001 and was followed by stand-alone prequel Shadow of the Colossus four years later. These are two works often called into service in the discussion of video games as art or literature. They’re beautiful, soulful and innovative in their actual gaming mechanics.
20 years down the line they are as fresh as ever.
Difficult to describe without spoiling, but ICO is perhaps best described as a platform puzzler. Together with the mysterious girl you must escape the castle and it’s grounds by finding ways to unlock doors, scale impossible heights, etc. A good starter game that requires less fine motorics and “twitch” reactions than Colossus. There’s a somewhat clear path to follow in the game.
Shadow of the Colossus on the other hand is described as “open world” meaning you can come and go as you like, there is no set path. You may enter an area before you are ready for the challenges it holds, but so be it; that’s what the save button is for. A common aspect of games involves dispatching lots of henchmen or lower level minions before battling a more significant foe. These are called Bosses. SotC isn’t like that. There’s only 16 enemies and they are all bosses. I won’t say too much but I will still today spend time riding around the landscape, not even looking for fights, just enjoying the view and hanging out with my horse. Available from the library.
The final part of the trilogy is a crawling-up-a-cat’s-bum simulator called The Last Guardian. It was finally released in 2016; the delayed release being the root the cause of my admittedly one-sided feud with Sony. I have refused to buy a PS4 out of sheer spite. Also available from the library, I mean it’s very cute and soulful, not dissimilar to ICO and more pleasurable than both, but somehow just not in the same class.
Portal / Portal 2
Portal and Portal 2 are funny, smart, mean and in places terribly moving. Two incredibly solid titles in FPS (First Person Shooter) style. You shoot a portal gun that opens a link between two spaces and use these links to solve spacial puzzles. All the time being goaded by a megalomaniac AI called GlaDOS. She just wants you to die, must you make it so difficult? You’ve probably heard me quote Portal a billion times. Just shocked myself by realising they are from 2007 and 2011, so there’s no real trailers for Portal, but here’s one of my favourite quotes, so mean! Probably easiest to buy this for your PC, otherwise digital download.
The Last of Us / TLOU Part 2
A straight up and down zombie apocalypse shooter. Or is it? One of the most engaging story lines in forever, TLOU broke people’s brains when it came and then broke them worse when the second part was released this year. Disappointing the teenage boy in adult men lead to the usual grossness; for the rest of us though it was a joy. I am on my second playthrough. Do the first one first, get to know the characters. I can help you set it to easy or get you tourist-cheats, it’s terrifying and super violent, but absolutely worth it. Or maybe I replay it and you can watch me stream it over your own one? It’s worth knowing Ellie from the start. Available from the library.
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