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The most polished games you've played
- Thread starter Creamium
- Start date
The game I'd replay over and over.
Its more than polished, a lot of everything in this game was placed in the appropriate places as well as hidden so damn well. Creatures at certain depths to be encountered and the set up in collectibles in the town as well as rewards is neatly set up in a very rewarding way.
There was absolutely nothing rushed in this game, nothing amiss, nothing glitchy, nothing feeling lacking, nothing that makes me feel like I'm missing something. If this game got a graphical upgrade, this would be considered as perfection in my eyes.
Its more than polished, a lot of everything in this game was placed in the appropriate places as well as hidden so damn well. Creatures at certain depths to be encountered and the set up in collectibles in the town as well as rewards is neatly set up in a very rewarding way.
There was absolutely nothing rushed in this game, nothing amiss, nothing glitchy, nothing feeling lacking, nothing that makes me feel like I'm missing something. If this game got a graphical upgrade, this would be considered as perfection in my eyes.
I think for me, polish is an exercise in seamless execution; ambition and scope have little to do with it.
I consider a game polished when things that the designers do not intend to showcase do not become distractions, the graphics, audio and gameplay fuse into a cohesive whole, and the overall experience leaves a buttery smooth lasting impression. Sometimes polish also expands to include the inherent beauty of a particular gameplay mechanic - maybe a system that upon reflection is both incredibly intuitive and meaty. But above all the execution has to be there.
I get that feeling probably most from Super Metroid and Metroid Prime, maybe a couple of Intelligent Systems games. (TTYD, PoR, AW
S)
I consider a game polished when things that the designers do not intend to showcase do not become distractions, the graphics, audio and gameplay fuse into a cohesive whole, and the overall experience leaves a buttery smooth lasting impression. Sometimes polish also expands to include the inherent beauty of a particular gameplay mechanic - maybe a system that upon reflection is both incredibly intuitive and meaty. But above all the execution has to be there.
I get that feeling probably most from Super Metroid and Metroid Prime, maybe a couple of Intelligent Systems games. (TTYD, PoR, AW
S)
Says so right on the disc:
"Panzer Dragoon Zwei is one of the best 3D shooting games available. Presented for your pleasure."
Lol! Is that the Japanese version? My NTSC copy doesn't say that.
pokeystaples
Banned
Portal 1/2, Nintendo all the things, Resogun since the update added couch co-op and the ship editor.
MK8 doesn't even have a podium. It looks like a lot of corners were cut in that game so it could ship on time.
JumpJeff84
Member
Dead Space and Batman AA are two western games that seem the most polished:
DOWN
Banned
Kinda was hoping to be impressed by this thread, but instead of grand, atmospheric, detailed worlds, there's a lot of restricted, smaller experiences that had relatively short development in some cases. I was really hoping for worlds with tons of small touches that make a big difference as a package.
I thought I was going to hear about stuff like the little clinking metal that an engine makes right after you turn it off that they put in GTA V.
Might as well just say *insert pretty racing game or Drive Club here*.
I thought I was going to hear about stuff like the little clinking metal that an engine makes right after you turn it off that they put in GTA V.
Might as well just say *insert pretty racing game or Drive Club here*.
I Want Your Cat
Member
Gears3 was great, everything worked great online and off.
EdwardTeach
Member
This.
But seriously, it would be some of the Nintendo games I have played recently on the wii u, namely 3D,pikmin 3 or Mario kart. In MK I love all the little details in the animations that you only notice when the playback is slowed down.
Of all the games I've played in the past year, Metal Gear Solid 2 was the first to come to my mind. I mean fuck, this game made backtracking fun, as well as all the other much more important things everyone else mentioned like the guard patrol routes and the frame rate and the everything, ugh that game is so god damn good.
I was happy to see that a lot of people cited it here despite this thread really being (deservedly so) "Nintendo Games: The Thread".
Also yeah, I thought GTA V was really polished too
I was happy to see that a lot of people cited it here despite this thread really being (deservedly so) "Nintendo Games: The Thread".
Also yeah, I thought GTA V was really polished too
after my first half an hour or so of playing it. Then I played more. I mean I could see how you could consider this polished for a R* game, but I mean... Nah.
Jakoozie89
Neo Member
That's kind of the point. You're talking about scale, or technical achievement, not polish. GTA is and has always been almost the opposite of polished. By your reasoning Fallout 3 should be on the list. (Hell no!). Smaller scale platformers absolutely deserve to be on the list, the OT is about polish, not scope.
Mye pick is Diablo 3 w/ Reaper of Souls, or Starcraft 2. Or basically every Nintendo first party, high budget title. (Which essentially includes every major installment in the Mario, Zelda, Metroid and Smash series, and others)
In my opinion Nintendo, Blizzard and Platinum are the best at putting out finished and polished products.
old manatee
Banned
Dota 2. So many updates.
Vulcano's assistant
Banned
Super Mario Galaxy 2, and I don't think it would be close if it wasn't for Mario Galaxy 1 and Portal 2.
Polished everywhere except icon artFirst post and all!WoW is as polished as games come.
ChronotriggerJM
Member
This thread seems bizarre to me. We're holding games back based on the scale of their accomplishments.
So lessee, 720 60fps (in 3d), no glitches, no slowdown, quick loading times, 3d, and old hardware.
Super Stardust HD.
So lessee, 720 60fps (in 3d), no glitches, no slowdown, quick loading times, 3d, and old hardware.
Super Stardust HD.
First post and all!
That's kinda unfair though. At launch that game was unfinished and buggy(Better then any other MMO out there in 04 besides EVE, but still).
I don't think anyone is discounting a game because of it's scale but rather showing that games that are large in scale tend to lack polish. I, and I think most people in this thread. take polish to generally mean a smooth framerate, high quality animations, no pop-in, no clipping, no glitches or obviously broken AI, high quality visuals, no blurry textures, etc.
Having a large scale doesn't automatically mean a game can't be very polished, but the bigger a game is, the less polish it usually has.
marimorimo
Member
Nintendo Games
- Super Mario 3D World
- Mario Kart 8
These games perfectly capture the JOY in gaming, while simultaneously offering a breathtaking gaming world to romp in. That's my definition of polished.
Special Mention:
- Plants versus Zombies Vita version.
Beautiful, rough edges and all:
- Persona 4 Golden
- Super Mario 3D World
- Mario Kart 8
These games perfectly capture the JOY in gaming, while simultaneously offering a breathtaking gaming world to romp in. That's my definition of polished.
Special Mention:
- Plants versus Zombies Vita version.
Beautiful, rough edges and all:
- Persona 4 Golden
Hydrargyrus
Member
I would say Uncharted 2 and 3, and TLoU
ND are awesome, extremely pefectionist
Tekken 3 was an extremely polished game too. Gameplay, graphics, characters, modes...
ND are awesome, extremely pefectionist
Tekken 3 was an extremely polished game too. Gameplay, graphics, characters, modes...
mocolostrocolos
Member
Persona 4 Golden and every Nintendo EAD games.
Polish doesn't mean bug free, no game is bug free. It's the whole package like fluidity, responsiveness, content.. ect.
UC2 was quite polished and TLOU was in if you discount its poor framerate. UC3 was a bit of a mess by their standards. The fact they forgot to put motion blur in at launch says it all.
Bill Rizer
Member
Generally speaking, back in the days Arcade games were the gold standard and on another league completely in respect to home systems games.
You can play Arcade games from 25 years ago (!) and still be impressed from their polish. Ghouls'n'Ghosts, Golden Axe and many others come to mind to me as near perfection.
You can play Arcade games from 25 years ago (!) and still be impressed from their polish. Ghouls'n'Ghosts, Golden Axe and many others come to mind to me as near perfection.
Tangerinediesel
Neo Member
I saw the title and immediately thought of nintendo games. The comments didn't disappoint. Drive Club is coming out someday though so don't worry guys. A near year long polishing effort is about to be delivered to us.
DOTA 2 and Nintendo games. Probably because of all the patches for the first and the almost non existent patches for the second ones, due to the aversion that Nintendo has for the online thing, so they need to have the games polished by release time.
Companies have accommodated in the patches during the last decade. I remember when most of them used to be like Nintendo in the ps1 era and before.
Companies have accommodated in the patches during the last decade. I remember when most of them used to be like Nintendo in the ps1 era and before.
The OP talks about two different things polish is not the same as attention to detail, GTA5 is not polished as it has uneven framerate, a bit wonky controls, glitches (although much less than what you'd normally expect from a game with such scale) but it also has incredible attention to detail and the only other series that matches it in terms of attention to detail is MGS.
Fez.
It's an immaculate production. The controls, every scree,n every platform, every 'pixel', every color, every sound, every song, every puzzle... it is absolutely perfect. The epitome of polish. The bigger a production gets the more cooks there are stirring the pot and the harder the game is to achieve this level of polish and as far as AAA games go I think that despite my dislike for the decades of rehashing that Nintendo has their aesthetic and gameplay down, that they produce the most consistently polished games of any developer.
Phil Fish is a lot of things.... and a fantastic game developer is one if them.
It's an immaculate production. The controls, every scree,n every platform, every 'pixel', every color, every sound, every song, every puzzle... it is absolutely perfect. The epitome of polish. The bigger a production gets the more cooks there are stirring the pot and the harder the game is to achieve this level of polish and as far as AAA games go I think that despite my dislike for the decades of rehashing that Nintendo has their aesthetic and gameplay down, that they produce the most consistently polished games of any developer.
Phil Fish is a lot of things.... and a fantastic game developer is one if them.
Yup, definitely either REmake or RE4. Mikami and his team made two incredibly polished games for the GCN. It's been a while since I played Viewtiful Joe, but iirc that game was extremely polished as well.
Also, have you guys even tried to play GTAV online? Is there even any resemblance of polish there?
Also, have you guys even tried to play GTAV online? Is there even any resemblance of polish there?
Cave Johnson
Member
OP should've been very specific on his descriptions as it has opened up to wild interpretations. Polish must not only be regulated to just game mechanics but the performance as well because it directly affects the way the game is played.
From Digital Foundry, it's quite obvious Nintendo got this in the bag, most notably SMG 1 & 2. Excellence in Graphics, Design AND FRAMERATE. Add to that, it runs double than most AAA games. This is the definition of "polish". Deliberately ignoring problematic aspects because of vision and scale is missing the point.
I suggest we start naming games that actually have all 3 in the bag please and not turn this into "personalised games that you love" topic.
For me, I have never played a game more polished than Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2 this gen and they're not even my top 10 games of all time. REmake is another that actually nails it down. Other games that pop in my mind is Super Mario World, I just can't point out anything wrong with that game at all.
From Digital Foundry, it's quite obvious Nintendo got this in the bag, most notably SMG 1 & 2. Excellence in Graphics, Design AND FRAMERATE. Add to that, it runs double than most AAA games. This is the definition of "polish". Deliberately ignoring problematic aspects because of vision and scale is missing the point.
I suggest we start naming games that actually have all 3 in the bag please and not turn this into "personalised games that you love" topic.
For me, I have never played a game more polished than Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2 this gen and they're not even my top 10 games of all time. REmake is another that actually nails it down. Other games that pop in my mind is Super Mario World, I just can't point out anything wrong with that game at all.
Always-honest
Banned
Forgot RE4 on gamecube
McBradders
NeoGAF: my new HOME
Hearthstone is so incredibly shiny it defies belief. The attention to detail on even the silliest thing like opening a pack of cards just blows my tiny mind every single time. I know it's not a super complex game but the polish is off the charts.
