High Dynamic Range Lying

As much as many gamers and critics try to champion the cause of gaming as an art form, it is very much so a business. Games are designed to be fun, entertaining, and sometimes thought provoking, but the result is always the same: the game is designed to make as much money as possible.

Some games are different. Sometimes, a team puts so much of their heart, soul, time (and sometimes even their lives) into a game, that it becomes much more than just a product; it becomes a labor of love. Sometimes, these games are a result of a tumultuous development cycle, a lack of a budget, or even the complete lack of publisher foresight. Whatever the case, these teams were created with incredible vision. Despite the hardships, the teams involved vowed to continue making the game because they needed to. They sacrificed a lot just to make the game, and despite adversity, had a clear view of their final goal.

The irony of the situation is that sometimes, a true labor of love never really ends up being a very good game. The very problems that made the team so dedicated, ended up biting them in the ass come release time. The following list is not of the best games of all time, or even the highest rated games of all time. These are the top labors of love in the gaming industry, and that makes the list a very different beast.

#8 - Metal Gear Solid 2 (Playstation 2)

Metal Gear games have always had a tradition of painstaking detail, and a plethora of easter eggs and out of place humor. Metal Gear Solid 3 had its fair share of all of these things, but purely because Kojima was forced to make the title, it’s difficult to call it a labor of love. It’s fair to say that MGS2 was the last Metal Gear title Kojima truly wanted to make. The game rewards those who stop to smell the roses, as well as those who attempt to finish it as quickly as possible, and little details like the ice bucket in the Tanker level make the game worth exploring multiple times, just to see what one can discover on future playthroughs.

#7 - Final Fantasy (Famicom/NES)

It’s difficult to talk about labors of love or swan songs without the original Final Fantasy entering the conversation. After Square’s glut of RPGs on the Famicom Disk System resulted in monumental financial losses, the then small development house was on the verge of bankruptcy. Designer Hironobu Sakaguchi decided that he would create the RPG he always wanted to make, drawing influence from Yuji Horii’s pivotal Dragon Quest series. Thinking that such a title would not save the company, Sakaguchi decided it would be his last hurrah before early retirement from the industry. To his surprise, the game was a smashing success, which not only saved the company from going under, but also created one of the most powerful Japanese game IPs in the gaming industry today.

#6 - Xeno Series

This is one of those instances where a single game can’t be chosen. No one is more in love with his own world as Tetsuya Takahashi. Even after Squaresoft only allowed him to create Xenogears (a small fraction of the entire world he envisioned), Takahashi broke off from Squaresoft to form Monolith Soft/MLSI, in hopes of truly realizing the philosophically and religiously laden Xeno world. This resulted in the creation of the Xenosaga seres, which Takahashi was sadly and forcibly wrenched from after the poor sales of the first chapter. Now all that remains of Takahashi’s vision is the fifth chapter of an unfinished series, and a six part saga that was prematurely ended after the initial trilogy. At least there is Xenogears Perfect Works, a book that painstakingly details the events and characters of Takahashi’s original vision for his world.

#5 - Panzer Dragoon (Sega Saturn)

Team Andromeda never had to create a language just for Panzer Dragoon, which sounded natural, and had its own grammatical structure. They didn’t have to design each small detail on a character’s clothing. They didn’t have to make Panzer Dragoon Saga, and then subsequently release it in the US, considering the Saturn was already on its last legs. Smilebit didn’t have to design every little visual detail, including the clasp mechanism on Orta’s earring. They did it anyway.

#4 - Odin Sphere (Playstation 2)

Despite being a rather new title, Odin Sphere has been on George Kamitani’s mind for more than 10 years. Designed to the be the spiritual successor to Sega Saturn’s Princess Crown, Odin Sphere had been in development since Princess Crown was released in 1997. Odin Sphere has its issues, but it’s blatantly obvious that Kamitami’s team have put their heart and soul into the game, including a deep alchemy system that is easier to use than any other alchemy system in a game, but still far more flexible.

#3 - Rockman 2

The original Rockman was not the huge success that Capcom was hoping for. After its release, Inafune and his team were moved over to a project entitled Professional Baseball Murder Mystery. Intent on making a sequel to Rockman, Inafune’s team asked Capcom if they could work on Rockman 2. Capcom agreed that they could, as long as they did it on their own time, while Professional Baseball Murder Mystery was in development. The team agreed, and worked on the entire game in their free time. That is dedication.

#2 - Battlecruiser 3000AD

It really isn’t an issue that Battlecruiser 3000AD is a steaming pile of crap. Derek Smart worked on the game independently for 14 years, developing and marketing all by his lonesome. The game went through multiple publishers, finally settling in at Take Two. Unfortunately, Take Two became antsy, and released the game in October 1996. Enraged that Take Two had released an unfinished version of the game (which contained ridiculous bugs), Smart filed a lawsuit against Take Two, claiming a breach in contract. Smart finally settled outside of court, released multitudes of patches for Battlecruiser, and eventually acquired its rights, which he used to release the game for free on the internet.

#1 - Cave Story

How do you beat a game that has been in development for fourteen years, under a single man that sought to make the last game you would ever buy? By making a game that is not only free of charge from the outset, but developed by one man in five years, and had more polish than many retail games. Cave Story is still one of the best freeware adventure games, and one of the most impressive labors of love in gaming history.

(Special thanks to the Gaming Age Forum for assisting in the voting process)

Don’t agree with the list? Think we forgot something? Leave your comments!