Printable View
Yes, those are ironic quotation marks because the term "deep" has actually become so meaningless throughout the years. People try to convince you something is deep but then it doesn't really click with you and you can't really see what elevates it above regular, "shallow media".
But maybe you guys can prove me wrong! Maybe there are games (or any other forms of media, really) that reach certain "depths" that others don't? How do you even interpret that word?
Discuss!
Xenosaga, Xenogears, Majora's Mask, and actually The Walking Dead right now. Not necessarily for the content itself but because those games inspired me to learn more and led to me seeing the world in a slightly different way.
Ecco the Dolphin probably
I would say Phantom Dust. It's been a long time since I've played it, but the story, characters and gameplay are different from anything I've ever played before, and they've always had a big impression on me.
Do I really have to say it?
https://i.imgur.com/OcymTvH.png
The Talos Principle. (pc, consoles)
Give it a shot if you like Deus Ex's narrative and portals gameplay. It's one of my all time favorite games. Go into it blind and you'll love it. Watch the trailer if ya like. It has gotten a lot of recognition.
Really depends on what you mean by deep. There are deep games emotionally, deep games philosophically, deep games politically, deep games lore-wise, deep games in experience or atmosphere, deep games in plot complexity...
"Walking Sims" and Point & Click games tend to be the deepest because they rely 100% on narrative. But 'deep' just sounds so cheesy when describing any particular game, like someone could label Journey as a 'deep' game but there isn't any real narrative at all. On the other hand, you could get a game like Gone Home which could be called deep by some for how it delves into the mind of a character, while others would scoff because they might feel it's just a moody teenage girl's LiveJournal entries.
Games that I would consider to be 'deep' in some kind of sense would include...
Flower
Journey
Gone Home
Firewatch
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (and, I presume, the other games in the series which I have not played)
The Longest Journey/Dreamfall series
The Last of Us
Final Fantasy VII
Lost Odyssey (haven't finished this one but from what I experienced it does very well)
What Loony BoB said. And also Silent Hill 2.
^Quote:
Originally Posted by Karifean
Final Fantasy 9.
That game actually teaches a lot of morals about life and friendship, and the characters feel incredibly personal and alive.
I really like that part when Zidane sits by himself at the pub in Alexandria for a long time at the beginning of disc 3 and laments the coronation of Garnet, and how he thinks he will never be able to spend time with her again.
I don't think I have ever seen anything quite like that in a video game before, and the way he acts feels very realistic.
not really sure what's deep about flowerQuote:
Originally Posted by Loony BoB
FFVIII.
God, the amount of theories especially the R=U crap.
You kinda sorta need to play DX1!Quote:
Originally Posted by Loony BoB
puts in perspective the meaning of life? I dunno, kinda depends on how we define "deep".Quote:
Originally Posted by Mirage
Anyway, OP asks us how we define "deep", but how does he? :holmes: His cynicism seems to maybe make this a futile effort, but I'll still list mine:
Deus Ex (ehh, I'll say the entire series, sure, but especially the first one)
Metal Gear Solid 2
Xenogears
Shadow of the Colossus
the BioShock series
the Max Payne series
Journey
Sine Mora
Spec Ops: The Line
Gris
Little Misfortune
Limbo
Inside
Superliminal
Wattam
Braid
Nier: Automata
What Remains of Edith Finch
Gone Home
The Plan
Hyper Light Drifter
Bastion
There are also games that have a great sense of awareness and commentary on relevant subjects and themes like Red Dead Redemption and Cyberpunk 2077, or that just may be really emotionally poignant like To the Moon and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, but may not necessarily be considered "deep".
Also, this is worth a watch, if it's something you are looking for. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z02e4xdpk1k
I find that a lot of games tend to beat you over the head with whatever their message is. I found that a lot with the Persona series in particular, though I still love those games.
Having said that, I honestly think that Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War (one of the old, untranslated ones) is very deep in that the story isn't spoon-fed to you, and you need to make a lot of inferences that you wouldn't with a lot of other games. The game is split into two halves, the first and second generation. The protag of the first generation, Sigurd, seems at first to be a pretty generic hero who is betrayed by a friend etc etc, until you realise later that it was his own ego that was his downfall. It's subtle, but it's done well. After finishing the first generation I just had to sit back and let it sink in for a bit, which I think is a sign of an excellent game.
*goes off to replay Genealogy of the Holy War even though it's super hard and I can never finish it*