I am curious what other people think in regards to games that have elevated themselves to the level of Art?
I am honestly not sure where I stand on “games as art” debate. I was very optimistic when indie movement flourished in 2010s, but I felt it quickly turned into trend chasing. In general I don’t think we live in environment favourable to art. Even so I feel we will need to wait quite some time (probably beyond our lifespans) to really see how any game will hold up. What is current big thing doesn’t necessarily stand a test of time.
I do think though, FromSoftware works have a decent chance of making it - they had a major impact, and a very distinctive voice and identity. Though I do think Dark Souls is the one to focus on. Elden Ring is definitely great (and the newest, biggest, hottest one out) but really it is great mostly because Dark Souls was phenomenal. It might have had the widest reach, but it doesn’t meant it will be recognised as the best one in the future Especially storytelling feels like retreading a lot of what FromSoft did before. I don’t mean it as a accusation against Elden Ring. Narrative should work together with gameplay, and as Elden Rings gameplay is more or less the same as Dark Souls it also follows the same patterns and themes. I don’t know, it might be “better” than Dark Souls but for me some magic is lost when do the same thing for the 4th or 5th time.
At the same time I am not trying to claim that Dark Souls IS better than Elden Ring. I remember it having cohesion and intent that later games felt lacking, but I also didn’t replay DS for a long time. It might be just me getting accustomed to the formula.
