The Games of my Ancestors: What will your kid play?

Except for the staunchest non-readers, I think almost everyone living in developed nation has a favorite book. Maybe it's not really complicated, or it's far from the so-called "classics," but it seems like most adults have at least one book they plan on reading to their children (or other important young people in their lives). Some stories are just too good to keep to yourself and are worth passing on.

For little kids, I'm definitely going to crack out Where the Wild Things Are, an all-time favorite of mine. When they're older, there's The Lord of the Rings and the His Dark Materials trilogy. I don't want to force them to read anything that bores them, but I'd like to at least expose them to my favorites.

Likewise, I have some games that I really hope my kids will want to play.



One of the painfully few RPGs with a girl hero who doesn't suck. Developers, take note.

Oh, FF III (I know it's really VI, but shhh). My brother and I played this game way, way beyond the number of hours it takes to beat it. We were bad at games, then; we wandered around on the world map and enjoyed the battles. I think the story remains one the best RPG stories out there. There's a plotline for everyone: coming of age (Terra), overcoming great loss (Cyan) ... and unlike some later RPGs, it doesn't mistake "not telling you shit" for "has a mysterious/deep plot". The sprite-based graphics are still lovely and the moments that really made the game for me -- the phantom train, waiting for Shadow, taking care of Cid on the island -- are still as potent now as they were then.



One of my favorite scenes.

For all the same reasons I want to show my kids FF III, I want to show them Chrono Trigger. It's arguably a better game, the graphics are sunnier and less detailed but the character animation is phenomenal. It's beautiful, the story remains engaging, and the combat system is actually better than FF III's (or at least it is to me; random battles are annoying). The game has fantastic atmosphere, visiting each place in time was like going to a new world, and I'd like to pass that feeling on. Exploration is a big part of these games, and the variety of places you go in Chrono Trigger keeps it high on my list.



I don't feel well, I'd better call my mom and dad...

Just by it's description, the appeal of this game eludes me, to be honest. It should be dull; a modern-day kid goes on an adventure and sees/fights lots of wacky things. But it has such incredible style, and Ness, like our Silent Protagonist friend Crono, manages to make a really interesting character out of nothing. I think this is probably the first game I'd introduce just because the A Boy and his Friends go on Adventures-type story is so great when you're young. I love that you call your dad to save, and your mom when you're homesick. It made perfect sense from a kid's perspective.


Interlude: Why all the RPGs, Pixel?

As much as I love games like N+ and Team Fortress, my experiences with these games boil down to "I had lots of mindless fun". I don't mean that negatively; frisbee is mindless fun, too, and tossing a frisbee around is great. Even puzzle games, thought-intensive though they are, are "mindless" in this way. Maybe "pointless" is a better word, though it sounds negative, and I don't mean it to. I am sure my kids will find newer games that fill this role. I played the shit out of Goldeneye but it's dated, now, and kids won't have as much fun as I did playing it, not if they have access to newer games. Though I loved it, this isn't the kind of game I'm talking about passing on. What I'm interested in here is what I personally find most valuable in video games: great stories.




No text, great story: the miracle of interactivity.

Here's a good example of what I'm looking for storywise in a non-RPG. Ico has a wonderful, powerful story that kept me enthralled the entire time I played and left me wanting more. It is, in fact, one of my very favorite stories, including those I've found in books -- I never felt as attached to a character as I did The Girl (why did they call her "Yorda", ugh). And when I finally had the realization (go play the game, dummies) my jaw almost hit the floor. I think it's the best game I've ever played.



Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Called Out Of This World in the US (I like the 'real' title better), this is a brutally hard and yet terribly simple game with a story (and companion!) that reminds me, more than anything else, of Ico. I played it long, long before, of course, and it's quite a bit older, but the dynamic is the same. Very little text, a "buddy", a strong sense of atmosphere. This one I'm saving for older kids, though -- when I was little my brother and I couldn't get past the black monster (see above) not because it was too hard but it was so intense we got scared and had to stop. I had nightmares about that thing.


There you have it: my top five. But there are others that I know I'll want to share. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is definitely on the list. What about you guys, any games you want to pass down for posterity?