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[TissueBox]

Or American culture in general. It's a popular focus among certain games apparently, and many big, be it in name or budget, titles have the good 'ol US of A to thank for their quirky or atmospheric groundwork, which is no surprise, since it's one of the biggest in the gaming market. For me, just coming out of a fresh re-play of Fallout 4, which I reeaally liked (yeah yeah), I am reminded that Interplay-
and particularly Beth-era Fallout is immensely charming. Vintage swing music, googie architecture, baseball, and even having a baseball stadium reformed into an entire settlement -- the personality in display is infectious iyam, not even mentioning all the crazy people. Maybe not as crazy as present-day Americans (j/k). It's an absorbing take on a post 19th-century America mashed with elements of a sci-fi survival horror neo-western satire. And it's a doozy.

However I still think Earthbound takes the crown. Not really objectively, as I have my biases. xP But there's a certain spirit captured in that game (and by some extension, the series in general) that makes it innately universal while also poking fun at the smaller American ways.

What do you think GAF? There's a handful of 'em out there. Other games/game series with prominent portrayals of the culture in some thematically relevant way include, for example,

- Bioshock
- Metal Gear Solid (2 in particular)
- Metal Wolf Chaos
- The Last of Ua
- US-oriented sports games
- Grand Theft Auto (Rockstar North era)
- LA Noire
- Red Dead Redemption
- Alan Wake: American Nightmares
- Gone Home
- Streets of Rage?
- METAL GEAR RISING REVENGEANCE
- Saints Row IV, kind of not really

and more no doubt. Some though not all war games apply too, like Brothers in Arms.

 

[Noisepurge]

Full Throttle, can't wait for the remastered version!

 

[TI82]

Does JoJo count?

 

[TheRedSnifit]

Earthbound is GOAT.

 

[Yohane]

 

[EdwardTivrusky]

Lots of games take place in or are styled after america that it seems the default or generic setting/theme so for me the answer is "most of them".

However the one that springs to mind most for what i'd call "Americana" is Sam & Max Hit the Road. It's all about Americana! Freaking STEEPED in it!

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Day of the Tentacle

 

[TissueBox]

Those are some great stuff, I'd say JoJo definitely applies to an extent too lol.. although I guess that's more pop culture stew a lotta times than the traditional kind, but still. Sam and Max was adventure game bliss back in the day, really did soak you in its style.

 

[Chev]

Metal Wolf Chaos is a great one, and Metal Gear rising definitely carries its spirit.

 

[Spirited]

Code name:S.T.E.A.M

 

[mocolostrocolos]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZmVE6NaWVo

 

[Torokil]

Earthbound is GOAT.

.

 

[boon]

I love the haunted house/circus motif in Rush of Blood...Not sure of that counts.

 

[Ghost Rider]

Fallout by far for me. The bizarre grotesque imagining of America's golden age is pretty fascinating

 

[Renekton]

Earthbound is GOAT.

What is your favorite food?

 

[mao2]

Bad Dudes. Can't get any more American than this.

 

[kqedequalsvolvo]

Enjoyed the pastiche of American Hollywood glamour with Steven Spielberg/Michael Jackson in Yakuza 0.

*'Freedom Isn't Free' plays gently in the background.*

 

[-shadow-]

 

[cj_iwakura]

Sakura Wars 5 is hilariously American. Shadow Hearts 3 too.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Earthbound comes to mind

 

[JonnyDBrit]

For the actual usage of Americana as tone and aesthetic, Fallout for me - particularly Fallout 3. I had studied the Cold War as part of... either my GCSEs or A-Levels, and going back to the game after that completely changed the experience. It was the first point at which I really appreciated that this wasn't just a post-apocalyptic future, but a post-apocalypse of the future as envisioned by 1950s Americans.

 

[Earthpainting]

I like to consider myself an expert on the subject of America and Americans after having consumed Deadly Premonition and D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die.

 

[Joey Ravn]

Deadly Premonition.

 

[ffdgh]

Heh...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGw8DWctAts

 

[woopWOOP]

Code name:S.T.E.A.M

STAR SPANGLED SLAMMER

 

[Ahasverus]

I think GTA is unmatched at this. Riding a truck through the San Andreas desert (GTA San Andreas, not whatever the hell V tried to do with it) is the quintessential rural american experience in a videogame.

 

[The Lamp]

Bad Dudes. Can't get any more American than this.

Was this ever even released?

 

[Swimmer9800]

My absolute favorite kind of game. Fallout, bioshock, last of us, red dead ect. As someone who loves american history, culture, and politics these setting are so apealing to me.

 

[water_wendi]

Was this ever even released?

Not sure if the console version had that but thats in the ending of the arcade game.

 

[Begbie]

Does this count?

 

[pitcairn55]

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is not only one of the best shooters of recent years, from an Americana point of view it's better even than the Red Dead games. It's rammed full of real characters from the old west: Billy The Kid, Pat Garrett, the Dalton Brothers, Jesse James, John Wesley Hardin and more. It even has interesting, informative collectibles for anyone with an interest in the setting and time period.

Such a good game.

 

[Zap Rowsdower]

Was this ever even released?

It totally was, multiple times. The NES version even had Bush Sr. instead of Reagan.

Also for another example, Kentucky Route Zero is one of the best uses of it in video games by far. It uses Americana extensively in its aesthetic, setting, and themes.The whole game is next level stuff compared to the majority of video games when it comes to narrative and theme.

 

[CannonFodder52]

Deadly Premonition

 

[MagnaderAlpha]

Not strictly Americana, but FFXV's Leide (desert portions) and Duscae (majority) areas look straight inspired by the Western and more foresty areas of the USA. Don't hurt that there's also bluesy and country twang themed songs that play in the outposts and provide the heart of "Wanderlust" during Leide's exploration. That and how the aspects of the Hammerhead Station seems to take inspirations from old 1950s styled gas stations. It is kinda funny, actually, considering most FFs have taken inspiration from all sorts of other countries and cultures, from medieval European nations, to the Middle East, as well as various Asian cutlures, and now parts of America.

 

[Pyrrhus]

Are we talking about just any game with an American setting? Because actual Americana is kind of specific. It needs to have a folksy, early-to-mid 20th century sort of feel. Nostalgic emblems of a comfortable, middle class past. You know, Norman Rockwell paintings, roots rock and traditional country, blue jeans and sneakers, country antiques, turn of the century posters and advertisements, that sort of thing. The shit they screw onto the walls at Appleby's and Ruby Tuesday's in other words. And it generally needs to be dealing with the subject matter in a way that is not intended as parody or satire.

I'd say the entire Bioshock series has the look, especially Infinite, but it's being pretty critical of it all so I'm not sure if it counts. GTA and Red Dead are likely out for the same reasons. Though I think you have more of a case for RDR as there are some definite nostalgic turns in that one. The problem is that even though it takes place in the early 20th Century, it's honestly hearkening back mostly to the mid-19th century Frontier, which is generally considered kind of early for Americana, and deals with the wide open places of the US rather than more domestic themes.

It's difficult to think of something that seems like proper Americana rather than just something in a "America through action movies as understood by Japanese or European game developers" setting. People say Kentucky Route Zero is fits that. Along those same lines, maybe The Flame in the Flood?

 

[DMONKUMA]

Oops nvm then.

 

[Tizoc]

Op already mentions it

 

[JetSetRadio]

 

[HK-47]

Kentucky Route Zero and Fallout are kings at this. I would never call MGS Americana in tone or content.

 

[andymcc]

Earthbound and Mother 3 both.

 

[13ruce]

Metal Gear Rising with the bat shit insane Senator Armstrong.

And then Trump happened lol.

What a ride that game and the real world have been

 

[Spirited]

Bioshock infinite for sure.

 

[Sephzilla]

Heh...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGw8DWctAts

Came to post this, well, the superior version at least

 

[RandomHopeInc]

Can't leave Bioshock Infinite out, I personally loved how it openly criticized America's legacy, and the terrible attitudes and actions that persisted throughout history.

 

[SexyFish]

Flame in the Flood fits this perfectly.

https://youtu.be/ADdm3h0-Qjg

 

[inner-G]

However I still think Earthbound takes the crown.

Agreed. Nothing else even comes close for me.

 

[Johndoey]

Night in the Woods. The game is set in and about a slowly failing rust belt town.

 

[rex]

Body Harvest, stage three.

 

[GrinningColossus]

Of the games listed in the OP, I feel like L.A. Noire, Bioshock, and Gone Home really nailed it the best.

 

[Gai Murakumo]

Definitely Metal Wolf Chaos. President Michael Wilson is the best President in any game period.