Heavy Rain Is The Most Important Game Of The Generation

I hope they move forward with even more great innovated ideas.

I want to see what Quantic Dream is working on

2 up, 1 down

100% agreed. i've said several times i consider HR.

"The defining gaming experience of this generation"

not necessarily the best (i still think MGS4 holds that title)

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Indeed Heavy Rain was a great experience and a important game to have in the collection.

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I agree wholeheartedly. I also feel that littlebigplanet was also an important original ip.

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Whenever I think of Heavy Rain I think of another game that is very different but kind of underappreciated by gamers in the same way. That would be Alan Wake. I know critics liked both games but I think both games are kind of underrated by a lot of gamers for some reason.

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I don't own an Xbox and am very upset that I haven't been able to play Alan Wake. I feel like I'm missing out.

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In a perfect world, Heavy Rain would inspire evolution. Unfortunately the success with games like COD shows that some people (devs) are content with where they are. The latest COD trailer made news but it was the same thing,yet treated as the second coming.

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I myself can't say for certain that it is "the most important game of this generation", but I can say with a great amount of certainty that developers need to take their queues from QD. Going out on a limb with either new ideas or ideas that never panned out with previous generations is very respectable and should be considered a great achievement, whether it is a success or not.

With the current take off of the %99 being able to fund projects (Kickstarter/IndieGoGo) I am hoping, no expecting more games of this caliber this gen. The days where publishers and developers cried that it costs to much money or it was too much of a gamble are coming to an end. New ideas can now be made with much of the cost being paid for by the fans rather than a publisher, so hopefully they start to go back to the old days where new ideas were nurtured rather then the now scared s**tless approach pubs have been taking this generation.

Really the only reason I can't say what you did Ben is just because I still have a lot of games yet to play this generation, so at my current staniding with the games I have played I agree with you, but I reserve the right to change my mind if I come across a game that I think fits the statement better. I admire QD regardless of the games I still have yet to play, I have a feeling I might find a game that fits the statement better, but even if/when that happens my feelings towards QD will not change.

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When I think back to all the games I've played since owning the ps3 (since launch), Heavy Rain definitely stands out as one of the more memorable experiences. I admit that I'm more into story and immersion than hardcore shooters, but I still love me some Killzone. I know that Cage said he wanted people to only play through once to get their own experience, but I've now played through 4 times, just to see how things change and how the ending is altered. I really want to see more games like this and more developers taking risks for the sake of art and telling a great story. As I said, I'm all for run-and-gun games when I'm in the mood, but those types of gaming experiences just doesn't maintain the same impression in the back of your mind as a good book/movie or games like Heavy Rain do. I want a great story!

tl;dr Yes, I agree.

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Afterthought...
I have a friend who stopped playing Heavy Rain because he was so annoyed with the JAAAAASON part of the game. I keep telling him he is really missing out on a great experience because of a stupid (and very minor)annoyance.
I also don't understand it because his girlfriend is MUCH more annoying than that part of the game :)

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I think Call of Duty is this generation's most important game. It made more people happy than Heavy Rain. It made more people that hate themselves have a reason to hate the game even more for being a good game. It sold in the billions and showed the world that video games can sell better than any other form of entertainment media. Tons of other stuff too.

Heavy Rain is just another an upgraded version of Dragon's Lair. There is nothing really GROUND BREAKING from Heavy Rain imo.

Make a choice and see what happens in a game? Go down path A and this happens. Go down path B and this happens. That has been done before.

Create an engaging story line? Been there.

I don't even want to get into all the other stuff.

This game was made to tap into an older audience looking to get into the Crime Drama tv like theme.

It was surely a good game. It was different. AFter putting hundreds of hours into rps and FPS, like COD, you need a good break with a good game like Heavy Rain.

But ulitimately in the end, I want to blow stuff up and be Rambo. After working 9 to 5 all day, saying yes sir and no sir, taking heat from the boss for his own mistakes, coming home to screaming kids and paying the bills, I want to play a GAME that lets me have fun and blows off some steam.

COD does it. While it will continue to sell in the billions because millions(THE MAJORITY OF GAMERS) love this game, Heavy Rain will always be a niche game.

Let us see where this takes us. :)

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Whilst i don't agree with your stance as a whole, you do make some valid points and criticisms against HR.

Digital or not, Journey did what HR set out to do a whole lot better and is highly likely to be the actual most important game of our time, or according to some high profile sources, the greatest game of our time.

HR as an idea was great, daring and memorable...more importantly, a huge success for such a niche game. But it had a lot of problems, some pointed out above.

Journey, which achieved similar success in that it became the fastest selling PSN game ever, is one of them extremely few games, if any i can call perfect.

It can be called niche etc but it achieved something impossible, being a niche arthouse game, but at the same time being instantly accessible to casuals too. An almost universal game that also innovates with it's completely original gameplay and moves us like no other with it's artistic philosophy.

Journey is the most important important to me and people on a universal level.

HR had problems and were noted. It appealed to a certain crowd only. I do agree however that it's success was hugely important....but just because Journey is Digital, doesn't mean anything should be taken away from it, it made huge waves and is now considered one of the best games of all time with the most praise i have ever seen given to one game.

That is much more important. Suddenly i'm seeing a lot more artistic expressions on the shelf...

As for CoD, that game is important for numbers and the growth of the industry as a powehouse only, not enough to be THE most important. It can be argued, and i would agree, that CoD is hindering the industry due to it being about numbers. Sure people enjoy it, but it's not excercising creativity, new concepts or artistic expression which are hugely important.

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Last edited by Lotusflow3r on 5/19/2012 3:22:04 PM

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I don't think you completely grasp the concept of HR giving you choice. It's not about doing "this" and getting "that" outcome. It's about the consequences or positives that come from that decision. It was important because things that happened in HR would never happen in CoD. You die over and over again in CoD because of your choIces and you just respawn. Ok yea that work with an FPS. But with HR you make a wrong choice and that character will have an unfortunate ending that there is no coming back from, or something terrible may happen. Your choices actually matter, and that's the beauty of HR. Take a deeper look...

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Last edited by bigrailer19 on 5/19/2012 5:35:24 PM

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"Ke$ha's "Tik-Tok" sold more copies than ANY Beatles single"

^^^Doesn't make her music better than theirs. See where I'm going with this?

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I agree. COD has shown the way to riches. Much like Marco Polo opened to the way to ancient riches (if not for Marco Polo, Columbus never sails for America) I feel COD too, has paved the road.


Not in gameplay mind you. But face it todays games arent about making great gameplay but for a handful of games. Nowadays it's about the almighty dollar. And COD has lead the way.

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Creativity to you is love and flowers and blah blah. Creativity to me is blowing a guys head off with exploding arrows while singing Jesus loves the little children of the world, then slapping a digital hotty on her ass and telling her to dance for me.

My idea sells. Yours is hated for its' creative hippy movemment wussyness.

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Interesting.

Well, actually, instead of take that as the nonsense it is, it brings in a point i missed.

We do need both sides to exist. We need the old school approach to fun too because sometimes we just want to pick up and play....but that's not the topic come to think of it, is it...

I love coming home from work myself and doing as you do, but i don't play CoD....that game has nothing on the old school shooters that need to come back....they made CoD look like nursery. Also, i don't think i limit myself like you do and can just as well wind down with Journey which is actually much more suitable as it can relax and even motivate for another day (catering to my on-topic points above).

I know you're trying to sound cool, but come on mate, 1 on 1 Duke Nukem with match mutator - Knuckle Sandwhich? No? You like to play CoD with the in kids instead, eh? Ok.

;)

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You don't seem to know the definition of "creative".

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Is ethird1 new here?...he outclasses Mr.Blankline already, I love him xD!!

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That is just too funny Ox... I really think he is just trying to get a rise out of people, I don't think anyone could make the comment(s) he made and actually be serious. That or like World said he doesn't know the meaning of creative.

I am horrible at spotting sarcasm on the net so I am not sure, but if he stands by what he says then all I can say is WOW! I mean I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion but again WOW!

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I'm not so sure....i mean that does match the CoD stereotype :P

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"Creativity to you is love and flowers and blah blah"

Sounds like someone isn't even old enough to buy the creative game he's describing.

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Then all I can say is thank goodness you aren't developing games.

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Not sure why Heavy Rain is important - but then i find the rpg genre tedious. (MassEffect series being a notable exception)

COD4 for me is the defining game of this generation - its the game that brought me back to gaming after a 20+ year layoff and the reason i got a PS3. COD4 introduced online gaming with your buddies to a ton of old guys like me who would never otherwise have bothered.

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Heavy Rain is not an RPG.

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No offense or anything and not that COD is a bad game, but it sounds like my friend who always played the same few games,
he loved them and didn't want to try anything else once he did he discovered just how many great games there are out there.


Not saying you haven't been playing a wide variety of games but it sure sounds like it....

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QD deserves every bit of the praise they've been getting for HR. I just hope next time they'll pick a story line a little less stressful. And by "stressful", I don't mean "Resident Evil/Deadspace Survival-Horror, I'm low on ammo, oh shit what was that?" stressful. I mean, "oh my God, my kid has been kidnapped and possibly killed" stressful.

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What the heck is up with he guy who went down the list and down voted everyone?

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Maybe i dont get the definition of rpg - thought it was where you made choices by selecting the appropriate text or whatever?

I tried heavy rain demo when i got my playstation move - but stuck the move back in my sharpshooter pretty quick ...

I guess its all down to personal taste

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Yea no... But that's ok.

Anyways it's obvious why you like the ME series. It's a shooter/action game first and rpg second, regardless what anyone says. But the games are heavy with story, dialogue and adventure, they somehow made the two genres work beautifully together!

Btw, that's just how I feel about the ME series. It really could be called an RPG or shooter. But it's kind of ironic the only rpg a shooter fan like yourself, likes is the ME series.

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Last edited by bigrailer19 on 5/20/2012 12:32:47 AM

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The definition of role-playing changes depending on who you talk to, but I can assure you that Heavy Rain most certainly isn't an RPG. :)

Arguments over FFXIII-2 might exist, though.

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most important and most influential.
most important because it proved that you dont have to put a gun in peoples hands and have MP to sell well.
most influential because it proved games CAN make you feel emotions, make you feel exactly how you would if that situation was happening to you in real life.
thats exactly why heavy rain had such a lasting effect on me.
it was a terrible game in oh so many ways!
story was as cliche and believable as your typical hollywood action movie.
and it delivered on as many of its promises as just about every other game this gen!
so many times david cage promised your choices would drastically change what happens, but they dident!
so many times he promised it would be so easy for your a character to die and if they did it would drastically change the story!
they had as much of a effect as a drop of water does on a oil rig fire!
IE jack sh*t!

but that said, the reason it had such a lasting effect on me, and why its held in such high regard, is its the only game ive ever played that made you feel so much for the characters!
no game out there made you care about the characters as much as heavy rain did!
i was literally ducking and weaving the level where your on the highway travelling the wrong way.
the level where you have to chop your finger off really made me cringe, than when i heated up the iron rod and cauterized the wound i could feel my arm yanking back.
just the way it made you feel like you were the character it was really amazing!

exactly why i really want to see his new game at E3 this year!
and it will definitely be my most anticipated title for whenever it comes out!
simply because i know no one will ever be able to make a game where you connect with the characters as much as david does!
its amazing, so many people say you cant do it, that games can not make you feel emotions.
well, david just laughed in their face and proved them wrong!

just goes to show how important immersion is.
if you really get sucked into something it does not matter how flawed it is, how much it infuriates you, if you really get sucked into it you will stick with it!
mirrors edge is another perfect example of that.
i freaking hated its gameplay, it was so annoying having to run past enemies while their shooting you.
i mean wouldent common sense say ok i have people to the right of me, left of me, so common sense says not to run down the middle right?
but thats exactly what you have to do!
just 2 examples of 2 games that are seriously flawed, but you know what?
you just dont care because your so engrossed in it!
does not matter how flawed a game is.
does not matter how infuriating the gameplay is, how unbelievable the story is, how boring the gameplay is, if it has that special element to it and really sucks you into it than suddenly nothing else matters!
i absolutely hated heavy rains story it was so cliche and stupid!
and seriously hard to believe!
but that just did not matter because how it connected me to the characters, suddenly nothing else mattered!
its amazing how something so small, so simple, magically makes you forget about everything else!

and THAT is what we need allot more of next gen!
to me the uncharted series is a perfect depiction of how this gen has been so different to previous generations.
and also why its not as enjoyable.
compare uncharted 2 to uncharted 3.
one had a stupid unbelievable story and really poor level design.
it was all about flashy graphics and big set pieces!
uncharted 3 was the complete opposite.
it was mostly about well designed levels, and it really made you care about the characters!
again back to heavy rain.
it does not matter how flawed the game is if your engrossed in the events, which is exactly why uncharted 3 was so much better than uncharted 2!
2 was your michael bay mindless big explosions typical hollywood flick.
3 was inception.
not about flashy graphics and mindless action.
its about a well thought out story and believable characters.
and thats what we need next gen!
enough big flashy set pieces, not saying we dont need them we certainly do!
but NOT at the expense of fstory and level design.
GOW3 is another prime example.
1 and 2 were famous for their puzzles, level design, story and gameplay.
3 threw all that out the window and all it cared about was maximum gore and flashy graphics!
enough of the mindless action!
we need more uncharted 3s, and less uncharted 2s!
more carefully thought out level design and believable characters and story.
and less mindless action for the sake of mindless action!
actually come to think about it you could say the same for mass effect 3.
2 was so much better because it had far more emphasis on its characters instead of story.
3 was far too focused on space battles and the gameplay, to hell with the story!

we need more visionaries like david cage because im really scared were going to fall even further into the trap if this keeps going on.
more flashy graphics and big set pieces, and less substance, less about telling a story and making the player relate to the characters.

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lol k

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By the way, if it seems like I'm being dismissive just because its __________ and it's a typically rather long post of his, let me just extract this:

"compare uncharted 2 to uncharted 3.
one had a stupid unbelievable story and really poor level design.
it was all about flashy graphics and big set pieces!
uncharted 3 was the complete opposite."

Please - just give me a single example of poor level design evident in Uncharted 2.

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Ha, nice joke.

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I actually had to force myself to make the wrong choices in this game.

The outcomes were so dreary and heartwrenching that I didn't want to see them.

The game has its issues, but it is ambitious and truly wonderful.

If this game had no dialogue, the game would still be great because the music is so utterly effective at conveying the games atmosphere and emotions.

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This game is my next purchase. I'm replaying LA Noire right now after months of letting it steep. It only gets better with time and I feel that it was the most groundbreaking game I've played thus far. Now as I've said I have NOT played Heavy Rain yet and may well change my mind ,but, LA Noire just fits me like a $30 suit...as it were. :)

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