Profound games?

[poetic codex]

I did not enjoy Torment, nor did I think it was particularly profound (I understand saying this equates to trolling around here because Torment is held up as being the sacred, untouchable game, but it is my honest opinion, and it's not because I was too stupid to "get it")

However, the following list are some games which were thought-provoking, and whose stories and settings were very engrossing and compelling to me:


Culpa Innata

Amber:Journeys Beyond

Sanitarium

Obsidian

The Dig


The OP expected people to list RPG's, and I'm an RPG fan first and foremost, but notice that my personal list includes only adventure games, and I do not think that this was a coincidence. In the adventure game genre, the story and setting takes priority, while the puzzles are there to provide user interaction in the form of obstacles to the progression of the story. So story and setting come first,while puzzles come later to provide obstacles to the former. Granted, only the best adventure games manage to find the right balance between the story and the obstacles.

For example, Benoit Sokal's games might be compelling when it comes to setting and story, but his "obstacles" part invariably fail in my opinion.

Honorable mentions: These games had thought-provoking setting and story, but the obstacles were very badly implemented:

Experience 112 (aka The Experiment)

Amerzone (Benoit Sokal)

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Harpoon
Su-27 Flanker
Falcon 4.0

 

[Sceptic]

The Dig

I could almost agree with this one... except it pulls of this horrible ending out of fucking nowhere manages to completely destroy the WHOLE POINT of the story. EVERYTHING up until the ending cinematic is very, very good.

 

[Eyeball]

Actually, if TD is profound, I think I'd put Indiana Jones in Atlantis as being more "profound" than The Dig's story - both deal with highly advanced civilizations abusing dangerous technology and being destroyed as a result, Indy just handles the story better and offers an interesting take on the actual fate of Atlantis.

 

[coldcrow]

Dreamweb.
Gateway 1&2.

 

[Azrael the cat]

I did not enjoy Torment, nor did I think it was particularly profound (I understand saying this equates to trolling around here because Torment is held up as being the sacred, untouchable game, but it is my honest opinion, and it's not because I was too stupid to "get it")

However, the following list are some games which were thought-provoking, and whose stories and settings were very engrossing and compelling to me:


Culpa Innata

Amber:Journeys Beyond

Sanitarium

Obsidian

The Dig


The OP expected people to list RPG's, and I'm an RPG fan first and foremost, but notice that my personal list includes only adventure games, and I do not think that this was a coincidence. In the adventure game genre, the story and setting takes priority, while the puzzles are there to provide user interaction in the form of obstacles to the progression of the story. So story and setting come first,while puzzles come later to provide obstacles to the former. Granted, only the best adventure games manage to find the right balance between the story and the obstacles.

For example, Benoit Sokal's games might be compelling when it comes to setting and story, but his "obstacles" part invariably fail in my opinion.

Honorable mentions: These games had thought-provoking setting and story, but the obstacles were very badly implemented:

Experience 112 (aka The Experiment)

Amerzone (Benoit Sokal)

I agree that Culpa Innata was better than the reviews indicated. But I still thought it didn't live up to its premise - had some very dull execution of some interesting ideas.

 

[Lesifoere]

I agree that Culpa Innata was better than the reviews indicated. But I still thought it didn't live up to its premise - had some very dull execution of some interesting ideas.

Yeah. I wanted very badly to like Culpa Innata, but it suffers from the same flaws as most point-and-click adventure games do. Backtracking, pixel-hunting, etc etc. Comparatively, RPGs are a much better vehicle for storytelling if only because it doesn't force you through the same rigmarole.

Oh, and I'm throwing The Void (duh) and Silent Hill 2 into the hat. SH2 isn't profound--whatever the fuck that means--as such, but its storytelling is some of the best.

 

[1eyedking]

I'll go ahead and be as anti-codex as one can be nowadays and say Planescape: Torment is most definitely a profound game, and hereby declare that I'll defend this statement to my death.

But since the OP asked for other games, then I'll mention Fallout, Fallout 2 (which both hide a lot more than meets the eye), and The Witcher (see signature). Those were the games that made me think upon their stories and settings the most.

 

[oscar]

Fallout, Fallout 2 (which both hide a lot more than meets the eye)

Really? Do explain my good man.

 

[1eyedking]

Save a nuked world by using nukes