Perfect / Near-perfect games

I find Resident Evil 4 to be a perfect / near-perfect game. From start to finish, the game maintained a very good pace, a consistent flow of action and puzzles, a good variety of weapons, and a decent amount of enemy variety. There is another reason why I consider Resident Evil 4 to be a perfect or near-perfect game. It has very good replayability. The game always felt very fun to play, regardless of how many times I replayed it. It is the stylish characters and the intense gunplay that made it one of my favorite games.

I think that a game can be considered perfect or near-perfect when it contains fun gameplay that is addictive, an interesting story and characters, and the proper pacing. A game can be long or short,  but it shouldn’t feel either too long or too short. I take Horizon Zero Dawn as an example here. When I first played it, it felt like a proper next-gen game. I bought the DLC too and tried to platinum it. Then I bought the remaster, and the second time around, I started noticing the various shortcomings of the game. Being an open-world game does not help it; gameplay felt like it required more polish, and the game felt repetitive. Though it remains one of my favorite games, it no longer feels like a perfect or near-perfect game.

Generally, the games you like the most and can replay multiple times may feel like perfect or near-perfect games. Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive is also one of the games that I felt was perfect / near-perfect. It had a nice variety of missions, a small but unique character cast that expanded the gameplay with their unique skills, and a western-style storyline that made it charming. I have played it many times, like I have replayed Resident Evil 4. Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade on the Game Boy Advance is also one of those perfect / near-perfect games for me. It features charming characters, fun gameplay, an interesting story, and great replay value, as you can experiment with different jobs/classes. trying different strategies, a new mode, etc.

My first PS3 game and first platinum game was Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. Though it suffers from repetitive gameplay, the loop is satisfying and fun for me. The game features excellent pacing, decent gunplay, a great cast of characters, and a solid story. The hardest difficulty can be very annoying, and constant auto-saves make it just manageable enough to go through the game numerous times. It is my favorite game in the series to date.

Not many games can feel enjoyable each time you play them. Some experiences are great for a one-time play. Sometimes, even when the game offers more features, unlockable characters, and other content, the core gameplay may not feel that good enough to go through it multiple times. I also believe that, combined with all the above-mentioned qualities, when the players feel like they have mastered the game, it can add up, making the game feel like a perfect or near-perfect video game experience.