I’ve been playing some GameBoy Advance games lately, and I have been reminded that the experience these older two-dimensional games deliver is far different than what I’ve been used to in recent years.
Halo 4
(from www.ign.com)
Today the big hits like Halo and Assassin’s Creed draw you in by using advanced technology to make huge, detailed worlds come to life. Their stories are facilitated by graphically impressive and sometimes long cutscenes that are reminiscent of blockbuster summer action movies, and the tone set by these cutscenes can be further reinforced by top-notch voice acting.
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance Screenshot
The older 2D games do not have the capabilities to generate aesthetically beautiful detailed environments and character models, but they instead rely on the atmosphere that they can create with text dialogue and narration, chiptune music, and comic-bookish character profiles to compliment the in game character models. Games like Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and Fire Emblem create a really impressive ambiance and mood, despite the fact that realistic-looking three-dimensional cutscenes and environments have no place here. The dialogue between characters is completely delivered through text, and while some gamers may be turned off by this, I think it’s a brilliant opportunity to create an experience that’s somewhere in between reading a good book and playing a fun game.
Having to read instead of listen and watch allows the player to use his/her imagination. It’s the same effect that makes books such a joy: the fact that words on a page can inspire your brain to invent a certain mood, certain character idiosyncrasies, and even a certain setting is nothing short of awesome. This idea of imagination expedited and guided by the game makes for a very user-driven experience. Every last detail of a scene is not given by the author – your imagination fills in the pieces the way it wants to. When this is blended in a game the right way, the end product can be very entertaining.
More importantly, I feel as though these not-so-visual games can be very refreshing now in 2014, when most gamers my age are getting numb to seeing another large explosion, another horde of zombies, or another car chase in another hyper-visual game.
Thanks guys for your comments! I’m glad that a real discussion has become of this. I would like to point out that I wasn’t necessarily saying that 2D games are always better at storytelling and creating atmosphere than 3D games. I mostly wanted to start a dialogue about how different the experiences of playing these two different kinds of games are.
I personally never really played any GameBoy as a kid: my gaming habits were completely restricted to the realm of 3D, and it was very interesting growing up at a time when the technology of graphics made huge leaps. Ever since I came to college, though, I have become rather bored with games. I became busy, and reading a novel became more appealing than playing Halo. After I had logged 100 hours in Skyrim, I was done with it, and no new titles since have excited me enough to play them. Now though, I’ve decided there are so many great games for older systems I had missed because as atk5102 said of some of his peers, I considered them “unplayable.”
I do believe that there are many 3D games being made in modern times that allow the player to use their imagination to enhance the storytelling. Skyrim is the prime example of this for me, as the character you create right at the start is essentially a blank slate with no prior history or backstory. This is cool, becuase it’s fun to make up your own backstory when dropped into a world as beautiful, rich, and alive as the land of Skyrim.
tos5189 makes a great point in saying that the realm of 2D is capable of illustrating settings and characters that are also incredibly dazzling to behold these days – I watched the trailer for Odin’s Sphere and I was quite impressed.
At the end of the day, I am glad that we have access to all of the old gems while in the meantime developers are also working on releasing some great stuff that really puts the technology to work.
I would like to agree with this post. These games offer something that is different than what the current AAA companies are throwing at us. They dish out many 3d realistic games, whereas the indie developers are the ones who are known for their great 2d games. It is true that they do not win the crowd with aesthetics, but they have to get the crowd with the “atmosphere that they can create” -npc5062. In the case of the Gameboy, the technology limits how much can be done with the aesthetics. It is also the combination of the story and mechanics. What I am trying to say is the dimension in which the game is designed is not the sole contributor as to whether a game is desirable or not.
I feel like this post is less about 2d games vs 3d games and more about hardware. 2d games can still provide incredibly beautiful and detailed worlds – for examples, look toward anything that Vanillaware has ever put out, “Odin’s Sphere” “Muramasa” and “Dragon’s Crown.” Conversely, while some older 3d games have aged well, some, like Final Fantasy 7 and Tekken 1 haven’t held up nearly as well. There is some truth in the statement that older hardware forced designers to be more creative in how they presented their gameplay/story – but that’s not to say that minimalist storytelling that relies on the player’s imagination is relegated to the realm of 2d games. For example, Journey and Demon’s/Dark souls are both great examples of modern games with high production values that also have a story that the player can flesh out with their imagination.
That said, some older games are truly timeless – and hold up on their own merits today. Examples such as – Zelda 3 and Super Metroid for the SNES are incredibly well designed games that modern designers still take reference from.
I LOVE 2D games and I agree completely with you post. As I was reading your post I started thinking about how its the same as books, then you come around and already say it. In a world where most of the AAA games published are the hyper realistic 3d games, a great 2D game can quickly become a favorite.
Although I do love 2D games and your post is great, I think there is something left out. I also LOVE 3D games. Sure there are so many 3D games out there now but having the feeling of just being in shock of how real my new game looks is great. I remember when I first played Skyrim, I was just overwhelmed by how beautiful everything looked. Of course those graphics aren’t as impressive today as they were back when it first came out (something could be said about how the realistic graphics quickly become out dated vs stylized ones, but that is a topic for another day) but it is rare that a 2D game gives me the same feelings.
I think it all comes down to how do you what the game to ‘feel’. With Skyrim, I think the developers wanted you to feel as if you were actually there and that YOU where the dragonborn, a hard feat for 2D games. Also, think about the original Bioshock with the feeling of claustrophobia. Now imagine if Bioshock was a 2D game. Interest? Yes! But a completely different ‘feeling’.
I would agree with this post to an extent, but a lot of this is opinionated. What I mean is that it’s totally up to the player whether they prefer 3D games with long, cinematic cutscenes or 2D text based games. But I think the age groups and timelines play an enormous factor in this. Personally, I can enjoy a 2D game like Pokemon or Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories just as much as any console game, but I think that is mostly because of the nostalgia. I know a few people who never really played video games during their childhoods because their parents forbade it, or they never really had the time, or whatever. But they have told me that most games for older systems are virtually unplayable. And this is because after learning about video games in this day and age on systems like the PS3 or Xbox 360, playing older games is just a totally different experience. For people like me who played throughout childhood, we can appreciate older games because that was all we had when we were younger. But an experience like this is foreign to newer gamers. We’re at a point in time where the experiences behind video games are transforming, and in another 20 or so years, no one will play games like GBA games, just like no one nowadays plays Pong or Frogger anymore. I think this has more to do with a new generation of gamers having higher expectations for what games should be like, and while the old generation of gamers can still appreciate 2D games, soon enough the gaming industry will have moved on from it.