Profound games?

[Jaqen]

Hi all,

Apart from Planescape are there any other deep or profound games? Does not have to be strictly RPG although I doubt there would be any in other genres?

 

[Malakal]

It seems You are interested in STORY based games? As in the story is the most important element? Then yes, there are many similiar games in the adventure genre. RPGs not so much, usually gameplay becomes the most improtant factor (or graphics...).

 

[Jaesun]

pro·found (pr-found, pr-)
adj. pro·found·er, pro·found·est
1. Situated at, extending to, or coming from a great depth; deep.
2. Coming as if from the depths of one's being: profound contempt.
3. Thoroughgoing; far-reaching: profound social changes.
4. Penetrating beyond what is superficial or obvious: a profound insight.
5. Unqualified; absolute: a profound silence.

 

[Volourn]

There are none. Not even PST, which I like, qualifies.

Sorry, but the truth does hurteth the Codex.

 

[reaven]

In many RPGs you get deep down dungeons

 

[asper]

Most of them are outside of the rpg genre. Adventure games overall.

Sanitarium
Bad Mojo
I Have no Mouth and I Must Scream

Possibly some text adventures, like Anchorhead.

But if you consider "profound" to be "thought-provoking", a lot of other games apply.

 

[Gragt]

The Void.

 

[asper]

Hm, Bioforge maybe?

Tie Fighter really had a good political story.

 

[markec]

Pathologic also Shadow Warrior since Lo Wangs wisdom is so profound.

 

[Eyeball]

I Have no Mouth and I Must Scream

This one came to my mind as well - deals with a number of gruesome issues including abandonment, rape, murder, infidelity and cannibalism and has a pretty mature handling of all of them. Far better than the shortstory, IMO.

 

[asper]

Gabriel Knight series?

 

[Sceptic]

A good deal of Infocom games, but mostly Trinity and AMFV.

Gabriel Knight series touched on some profound themes.

PST and to a lesser extent MotB.

Ultima 5-7, though some of it is in the subtext.

Anachronox has touches of this, though it is very cleverly hidden under the comedy.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Sengoku Rance

 

[CrimHead]

Deus Ex.

 

[Kron]

The Void.

The Void huh?

The game struck me as sort of pretentious, not genuinely profound. Seeing the portraits of the developers at the game's end credits convinced me of this.

Nevertheless, I always wondered what would happen in the game if you sided with the brothers. Was it even thought so that you could play it that way? Thing is, I could never make it through the grinding gameplay to check it out.

Edit: Avoid The Void

 

[Klaz]

Dreamweb, A Mind Forever Voyaging, The Longest Journey, and The Void have a profound story...

For profound gameplay, try Dwarf Fortress, Nethack, Jagged Alliance 2, STALKER: Shadows of Chernobyl and Call of Pripyat.

If you want profound story and gameplay... Deus Ex is the game that comes closest to this.

 

[Kron]

STALKER: Shadows of Chernobyl and Call of Pripyat.

STALKER?? It's a FPS with nothing more FFS. One thing is to have a post apoc setting that one might find interesting, or not, and a completely different thing is to have profound gameplay.

All STALKER has as gameplay is choosing wether you want to take out those bandits/mercs/military guys with a pistol, a shotgun, a rifle or a bazooka, and that's all the game is going to provide.

 

[Klaz]

STALKER?? It's a FPS with nothing more FFS. One thing is to have a post apoc setting that one might find interesting, or not, and a completely different thing is to have profound gameplay.

All STALKER has as gameplay is choosing wether you want to take out those bandits/mercs/military guys with a pistol, a shotgun, a rifle or a bazooka, and that's all the game is going to provide.

The difference with most FPS games is that you have very limited resources. You have to watch out how many enemies you take out because you might not have enough bullets for the next encounter. And don't forget that your armor can break, and very quickly, if your enemies have decent weapons.

Granted, the unmodded game has a few cheap parts that could lessen this aspect of the game, like the knife that does way too much damage, but this is easily solved with mods. (And you're going to play that game with mods, because vanilla has too many bugs)

EDIT: Forgot System Shock 2.

 

[BethesdaLove]

Oblivion.
Existentialism at its finest.

 

[zeitgeist]

What is your personal definition of "profound" in the context of video games? Are you perhaps trying to find games that deal with, reflect, or inspire inquiry into the human condition?

 

[ecliptic]

Persona 2. Really.

 

[hoverdog]

Sengoku Rance

 

[Gragt]

I Have no Mouth and I Must Scream

This one came to my mind as well - deals with a number of gruesome issues including abandonment, rape, murder, infidelity and cannibalism and has a pretty mature handling of all of them. Far better than the shortstory, IMO.

The short story doesn't deal with those themes to begin with (except maybe cannibalism but it doesn't try to explore it nor does it need to). As for the mature treatment of said themes by the game, it's rather shallow and only grazes the surface of the issues. The Gorrister segment is the most interesting of the bunch but even then it doesn't really go that far. Add the fact that the puzzles are mostly uninteresting and the whole "you must overcome your flaw" idea is handled badly (there is no penalty for doing the right stuff, unlike what happens if you do the bad one) and you just got a mediocre game. Interesting, showing some good ideas and potential but ultimately mediocre.

The Void huh?

The game struck me as sort of pretentious, not genuinely profound. Seeing the portraits of the developers at the game's end credits convinced me of this.

Your argument that The Void is pretentious is that the developpers have their pictures in the credits? Now that sounds pretentious and shallow.

Nevertheless, I always wondered what would happen in the game if you sided with the brothers. Was it even thought so that you could play it that way?

Kind of.

Edit: Avoid The Void

If you want to keep getting the same sort of games as we do now, by all means ignore it. But if you want a game that deliberately tries to be different from the stuff we see today, and that takes the player seriously and as an adult, with very little hand-holding and no condescension, then play The Void and pay for it.

 

[DriacKin]

There are none. Not even PST, which I like, qualifies.

Sorry, but the truth does hurteth the Codex.

I agree with the princess.
No video game has ever come close to being profound, and its silly to suggest otherwise.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

Gaming hasn't matured enough as an art form to achieve that kind of status.