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[tassletine]

Definitely GTA 5, considering the scale, the hardware and the attention to details.


LMAO at Mario 3D/Mario Kart mentions. Just because Nintendo is finally making games in HD does not mean they are most polished.

Since when did size have anything to do with polish? GTA's game mechanics are so poor almost every other non open world game eclipses it.
It's only the amazing atmosphere and details that makes GTA great, if you take any one part of it and look at it in isolation it's not very good at all, especially from a gameplay perspective.

Nintendo games on the other hand are insanely polished. Gameplay, graphics, sound, everything. It doesn't matter if those games don't depict a real world or not. There's very rarely a second that isn't filled with something to do or look at, unlike GTA which regularly makes you bored, and aware that you are playing a game. It's got tons of great touches but I'd give up a whole boatload of them for less janky gameplay mechanics.

 

[tassletine]

Its a portable game that obligatorily requires a mount for you to enjoy it properly. Regardless of the work put into the assets, voice-work, and visuals, if start your game's design by making it inadequate to the device it's going to be played on you're already breaking the very notion that it might be a polished product.

That's based on the user, so your point doesn't hold ground. If anything I would say that including an optional stand (something that I didn't use at all) is added polish as it caters for a wider audience.

 

[Jock_Nerd]

The most recent game that just struck me with its insane polish was Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.

I respectfully disagree with you. This, to me, is an example of a game that lacked a great deal of polish. Sure, the animations, challenge, level design and music were pretty good, but three main things kept it from feeling "polished":

1. the coop experience added very little to the gameplay
2. the Gamepad displays nothing but a black screen when playing on the TV
3. load times were frequent and unnecessarily long

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the game (probably give it about a B- to a B), but it's not a game I would think of when I think "polished."

Ocarina of Time, to me, comes to mind when I think "polished."

 

[hurricanes]

I respectfully disagree with you. This, to me, is an example of a game that lacked a great deal of polish. Sure, the animations, challenge, level design and music were pretty good, but three main things kept it from feeling "polished":

1. the coop experience added very little to the gameplay
2. the Gamepad displays nothing but a black screen when playing on the TV
3. load times were frequent and unnecessarily long

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the game (probably give it about a B- to a B), but it's not a game I would think of when I think "polished."

Ocarina of Time, to me, comes to mind when I think "polished."

Isn't DKCTF intended not to use gamepad? That's a choice in my book. I'd say long loading time is the main problem here.

 

[TheAdmiester]

Since when did size have anything to do with polish? GTA's game mechanics are so poor almost every other non open world game eclipses it.
It's only the amazing atmosphere and details that makes GTA great, if you take any one part of it and look at it in isolation it's not very good at all, especially from a gameplay perspective.

Nintendo games on the other hand are insanely polished. Gameplay, graphics, sound, everything. It doesn't matter if those games don't depict a real world or not. There's very rarely a second that isn't filled with something to do or look at, unlike GTA which regularly makes you bored, and aware that you are playing a game. It's got tons of great touches but I'd give up a whole boatload of them for less janky gameplay mechanics.

GTA might regularly make you bored, but that doesn't apply to everyone. I myself am bored to death by Mario games and would never call them polished either. GTA is fantastic overall. Not perfect, but it's incredibly hard to beat.

 

[majik13]

I respectfully disagree with you. This, to me, is an example of a game that lacked a great deal of polish. Sure, the animations, challenge, level design and music were pretty good, but three main things kept it from feeling "polished":

1. the coop experience added very little to the gameplay
2. the Gamepad displays nothing but a black screen when playing on the TV
3. load times were frequent and unnecessarily long

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the game (probably give it about a B- to a B), but it's not a game I would think of when I think "polished."

Ocarina of Time, to me, comes to mind when I think "polished."

I havent played the game but these dont seem to relate to polish as I understand them. Its more a lack of features, and insuffcient HW.

Nintedo games are the most consistently polished but they generally lack features, sometimes as a design choice.

Polish is more the quality and stability of avaliable content imo.

 

[3bdelilah]

Nintendo definitely aren't immune to it.

Twilight Princess and Other M both had game ending bugs that really needed patching out, but couldn't because of the system.

Sucks to hear man, but I've never encountered them and I've played TP 3 times. Not the most perfect game (barren overworld and IMO uninspired art style, though the combat was fresh and the dungeons were excellent), but pure technically speaking I found it to be glorious. What were the bugs you ran into?

Haven't played Other M (yet) though, but luckily so if I'm to believe the most on GAF.

 

[TouchMyBox]

Rogue Legacy is pretty good, guys.

 

[equippedwithtowel]

Hello, exception. You prove nothing.

Yes, I am a Southpaw. Yes I returned an otherwise fantastic game (Kid Icarus: Uprising) because its lack of a southpaw option rendered it a horrid, horrid failure of a game, game-play execution-wise for the overwhelming majority of the other 10%ers.

Except there is one and imo the ABXY configuration worked well. In fact activating dodges was even easier then the standard config.

 

[vids]

Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze

 

[BeforeU]

Nintendo first party games are generally top notch without issues.

 

[BorkBork]

Good lord this just came to me.

Chrono Trigger is the most polished game I have ever played. It is however not my favourite game, but it is very close.

 

[leng jai]

Tropical Freeze had pretty terrible load times.

Mario Kart 8 had the annoying menu when choosing karts and questionable design/omissions from its menu options.

 

[Sparrowhawk]

The people saying any Nintendo game obviously haven't hunted the damn Triforce shards down in Wind Waker. HD helped, but it's still depressing knowing the cut corners.

 

[Recall]

The people saying any Nintendo game obviously haven't hunted the damn Triforce shards down in Wind Waker. HD helped, but it's still depressing knowing the cut corners.

They didn't cut corners, they ran out of time and did what they could.

 

[watershed]

The people saying any Nintendo game obviously haven't hunted the damn Triforce shards down in Wind Waker. HD helped, but it's still depressing knowing the cut corners.

Because one game invalidates all their other amazing efforts? Is this some new form of logic?

 

[Lingitiz]

The people saying any Nintendo game obviously haven't hunted the damn Triforce shards down in Wind Waker. HD helped, but it's still depressing knowing the cut corners.

That's not really a lack of polish. It's a poor design choice made relative to the lack of time that they had before release.

 

[UrbanRats]

Since when did size have anything to do with polish? GTA's game mechanics are so poor almost every other non open world game eclipses it.
It's only the amazing atmosphere and details that makes GTA great, if you take any one part of it and look at it in isolation it's not very good at all, especially from a gameplay perspective.

Nintendo games on the other hand are insanely polished. Gameplay, graphics, sound, everything. It doesn't matter if those games don't depict a real world or not. There's very rarely a second that isn't filled with something to do or look at, unlike GTA which regularly makes you bored, and aware that you are playing a game. It's got tons of great touches but I'd give up a whole boatload of them for less janky gameplay mechanics.

Boredom also has fuck all to do with polish, so i'm not sure why you bring that up.
I agree with you on the rest though, GTAV is a pretty polished open world game, but doesn't really compare when more focused games get considered into the mix.

That's not really a lack of polish. It's a poor design choice made relative to the lack of time that they had before release.

That's the reason many games lack polish.

EDIT: Lol, i see everyone has their own, very different, definition of what constitutes "polish" in a game.
Good design, fewer glitches...

 

[krumble]

Still loads of misunderstanding when it comes to the use if the term polish in software development

Polish is all the extra hours, days, months put into a project near the end of development to

Optimize code
Fix bugs
Improve user interface aesthetics
And generally improve the product as a whole

It is not having a huge project scope, intricate design detail and size of the environment and ambition... Only to be forced into unrealistic development times that run up to day of release and even past that to day one patches just to deliver a project that fits the original brief

Rockstar don't have the luxury of being able to polish their games, very few teams ever get that opportunity as it's a commercial decision

Nintendo on the other hand have consistently delayed loads of their top franchises to give that extra polish - they aren't infallible, but quality definitely seems a higher priority than getting a financial return on their investment ASAP that most publishers force onto teams

You take a beaten up old silver cup and clean and polish it until it sparkles

You don't take that cup, add some extra design work, another handle and perhaps reshape the top of it ...

 

[genbatzu]

Nintendo Games.

I think they are the only company that still publishes games the way they did it on consoles without the possibility to update (via internet) and don't abuse early adopters as Q&A/game testers

 

[BrassDragon]

They don't get everything right, but these guys and gals polish their PC titles to a sparkle:

 

[Captain Europe]

Nintendo Games.

I think they are the only company that still publishes games the way they did it on consoles without the possibility to update (via internet) and don't abuse early adopters as Q&A/game testers

Yeah, pretty much.

 

[notBald]

It must be a Nintendo, Valve or a Blizzard game.

Too true. It's also true that Valve games are often technically glitchy, but game design is sublime.

I disagree with: Capcom games except perhaps the later Mega Mans and SFII iterations. Their games are good, but feature horrible voice acting (Resident Evil series), laughable character design (sub zero cleavage in Lost Planet) and weird art styles (Street Fighter IV).

Though there's Ōkami to consider. Haven't played it but it looks slick.

 

[JustinJ004]

I'd say either Silent Hill 2 or Metal Gear Solid 2. Both were amazingly well polished and looked far better than their peers as well.

 

[Erevador]

I'm going to say Demon Souls and Dark Souls. Just about perfect.

I love these games, but they're full of major technical problems.

 

[K.Sabot]

Nintendo games feel so vacuum tight, I always took it for granted until I learned how complicated programming is.

 

[UrbanRats]

I'm going to say Demon Souls and Dark Souls. Just about perfect.

Lol.

Dark Souls past Anor Londo is all but polished.

 

[Dagobert Duck]

This has to be a Nintendo thread. I cant think of a single game made by Nintendo thats feels unpolished. Seal of Quality is indeed something ;-)

 

[KnockOneOff]

metal gear solid

nothing suprised me more than the time i used my binoculars on meyrls breasts

 

[Bold One]

Nintendo games, they release em when they are ready and not a second before.

 

[Creamium]

I respectfully disagree with you. This, to me, is an example of a game that lacked a great deal of polish. Sure, the animations, challenge, level design and music were pretty good, but three main things kept it from feeling "polished":

1. the coop experience added very little to the gameplay
2. the Gamepad displays nothing but a black screen when playing on the TV
3. load times were frequent and unnecessarily long

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the game (probably give it about a B- to a B), but it's not a game I would think of when I think "polished."

Ocarina of Time, to me, comes to mind when I think "polished."

I've played little co-op, so I can't comment on that. I don't see the non-use of the gamepad as a lack of polish, it's just a choice to not add functionality. This is better than forcing something in.

I hadn't thought about the load times, but you have a point there. The stutter should've been avoided too.

I wonder: is there stutter too when you play the dl-version? I think I've read that loading times are a bit shorter as well, don't know if that's true.

 

[EktorPR]

As much as I love Retro Studios and Nintendo in general, that horrible banana-shaped loading icon in Tropical Freeze (yes, something as little as that) makes me not think that it's a polished game, not to mention the loading times.

But that's an exception to the rule: most Nintendo games are insanely polished and feel effortless in their execution.

 

[DaSorcerer7]

Nintendo's games in general, some Sony's first party offerings.

 

[Sammy Samusu]

Metroid Prime, it's perfect.

 

[sono]

Ratchet and Clank a Crack In Time.

This game is perfect in many ways.

 

[Bert]

Surely any game that's received a patch can't be listed in this thread by definition?

Also, large amounts of people in this thread need to read this again:

Still loads of misunderstanding when it comes to the use if the term polish in software development

Polish is all the extra hours, days, months put into a project near the end of development to

Optimize code
Fix bugs
Improve user interface aesthetics
And generally improve the product as a whole

It is not having a huge project scope, intricate design detail and size of the environment and ambition... Only to be forced into unrealistic development times that run up to day of release and even past that to day one patches just to deliver a project that fits the original brief

Rockstar don't have the luxury of being able to polish their games, very few teams ever get that opportunity as it's a commercial decision

Nintendo on the other hand have consistently delayed loads of their top franchises to give that extra polish - they aren't infallible, but quality definitely seems a higher priority than getting a financial return on their investment ASAP that most publishers force onto teams

You take a beaten up old silver cup and clean and polish it until it sparkles

You don't take that cup, add some extra design work, another handle and perhaps reshape the top of it ...

 

[jtenma]

All the Wipeouts

Ratchet and clanks

Guild Wars 2

God of Wars (never played ascension online)

resistance

All mario games Galaxy and up.


I think all SF4s came out with little to no problem. Unless balancing (which can never be perfect, mind you) counts.

Guilty Gears had no problem



OH AND OF COURSE FIRE EMBLEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEEAAAAAAAAAA

Spoiler

And skyrim

 

[leng jai]

It was only a matter of time before someone said Dark Souls.

 

[Laconic]

Nintendo definitely aren't immune to it.

Twilight Princess and Other M both had game ending bugs that really needed patching out, but couldn't because of the system.



KI:U had leftie support if you used a circle pad pro. I don't see how else they could have gotten around it : they weren't going to give up stylus aiming, and people generally agree that 3d movement requires an analogue stick(circle pad).
Yes, it sucks that hte 3ds doesn't have a built in analogue on the right and it sucks that you'd have to buy an extra bit of hardware to play it with your natural hand, but the option was there.

I have an XL.

Except there is one and imo the ABXY configuration worked well. In fact activating dodges was even easier then the standard config.

No it wasn't easier. It was horrid and clunky to the point of being painful to endure. It was badly designed, full stop. Which is a shame, considering they nailed everything but actually playing the game.

 

[equippedwithtowel]

No it wasn't easier. It was horrid and clunky to the point of being painful to endure. It was badly designed, full stop. Which is a shame, considering they nailed everything but actually playing the game.

Double tap isn't easier than an ill defined smashing motion? I manage to play PC shooters with WASD just fine.

 

[Rollo Lawson]

Uncharted 2. Exemplary craftsmanship

 

[ShodanMAN]

Nobody mentioned Journey in this entire thread?

I did

Nintendo's first party games certainly at the top. I'd also say Journey and Rayman Origins. Trying to think of more.

 

[Chaos17]

This year, the most polished game I played is from Blizzard and Nintendo.

 

[Femmeworth]

I'm tired and read the title as "most Polished." As in games made in Poland. In which case I would say Bulletstorm (PS3) which actually wasn't all that well polished.

 

[NewGame]

Really need to define what 'polish' refers to. I believe polish is when a game has clearly been tested and finished and had a lot longer to cook in the development cycle to really maximize and condense the experience of play.

For example, most Nintendo games have a lot of polish Super Mario 3D World is wonderfully polished but something like a New Super Mario Bros game? That's not polished in my eyes especially when you consider that fans can make the game better.

A game like Journey is probably the most polished game I've played in some time, everything about it oozes immaculate minimalist sensibilities, you can really tell the development team were in the zone making it. On the opposite end of the spectrum we have something like Skyrim which has little to no polish, full of unused features and assets that often glitch out, nothing seems to cohere and it generally feels like a collection of random peoples ideas of what the game should be. Surprisingly it too has a furious modding team all desperately trying to polish

Spoiler

a turd.

 

[anotherVegan]

Basically every Nintendo game (that is made by Nintendo)

This. First Party Nintendo games, both old and new, carry the best polish in the industry.

I'm looking at you, Super Metroid.

For a more recent example, just look at Mario Kart 8.

 

[SpacePirate Ridley]

For people who say every Nintendo game, please, do not exagerate. The majority? big resounding YES, "ALL" of them? NO

Sunshine would like to have a word with you, that game is a godamn mess. Bugs galore, camera problems, horrible gampeplay design in some stages, unfinished game...
I wouldn't call wind waker polished either, it's a much better game than sunshine, but is still unfinished.

 

[BumblebeeCody]

Nearly anything from Nintendo, those games are absurdly polished.

After watching speedruns of those games (Ocarina of Time especially) I can't look at them the same. Like it was coded by baboons using their butts.

Third Strike is pretty well polished.