Game of Thrones

Last week I observed the enduring popularity of Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time and Final Fantasy 7 noting that both games are pretty much the pinnacle of a tried and tested formula. And once it’s made clear that the formula worked, the influence of such knowledge creeps into playing both the predecessors and the successors of both games.

But I want to talk more about this: namely the enduring popularity of Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time and Final Fantasy 7. Both games were released in the late nineties yet they’ve enjoyed a continued popularity and longevity that many other games would envy. Sure the likes of World of Warcraft and Minecraft may have racked up millions of users but even if those games have both revealed a surprising degree of longevity they have no hope in hell of catching up to OoT and FF7.

In a way the continued popularity/longevity of OoT and FF7 is surprising - surprising when you consider that no such thing exists in this industry where things tend to run at a sprint-like pace. Why is this attention and regard continually reserved for these two? I refuse to use the N-word because that is really more half-arsed excuse – and if N…Nos….Nostradamus is such a potent force then Final Fantasy 7 would be outpaced in acclaim and esteem by it’s younger brother Final Fantasy 6 and as we know this is not the case.

In addition, I refuse to believe that things from your childhood can still work in adulthood: More often than not, games one played as a kid look different from an adult perspective. The former is blinded by the enthusiasm of new discovery but the latter is has experience and the ability to think critically. By way of example, I recall playing Alex Kidd on the Master System when I was a little tacker but to play it now as an adult I’m wonder how the wonky controls and tough difficulty didn’t drive me off the rails. Besides, if I was recall games I played when I was ten years old, I would dust off games from the Commodore 64 era that I would rather much like to forget.

So it’s pretty much fair to say that the continued popularity of OoT and FF7 is that they are really good games. I will not deny that (even if I think the OoT camera is frustrating and FF6 was better) but here’s what I want to know: are OoT and FF7 the holy grail? The pinnacle of gaming? Irrefutable proof that things aren’t going to be better so it’s pointless to even try? How awesome does a game have to be that it can still be enjoyed no matter how much both time and technological advancements can throw at it?

It would seem to usurp the continued reigns of both OoT and FF7 a game would need to impossibly good. Is that even possible? Or even worth doing? Or do game designers have to do something different to grab one’s attention? True Portal did that with it’s black humour but that may have proven it’s undoing: Sure it made us laugh but it’s the laughter that people remember. Thus whilst everyone can recall the Cake Being a Lie, they are still none the wiser of how they came to that conclusion. Thus it becomes clear that if you make people laugh, they’ll follow you over a cliff. Why, I see GLaDOS being continually regarded as a memorable baddie but I doubt it is for any reason other than: ‘she made me laugh’.

But I digress. True playing OoT and FF7 may represent a point in time but ultimately it may be time to move on. More games have been released since and the latest gaming advancements mean that anything is possible – even that which was once impossible now being feasible. It may be unlikely that something mind-blowingly awesome will come storming in and usurp the throne held by OoT and FF7 but that is no reason to stop trying.

I mean, by way of comparison, it’s not like movies stopped being made for nearly seventy years just because Citizen Kane was made.