Chris Ruiz- Week 1 HW

My favorite games are primarily pretty simple both story-wise and visually. Things like Pokemon, where the story is simplistic and generally the same at its core, appeals to me through the world it presents the player. I love the feeling of walking around in a Pokemon game and talking to the NPCs; besides the nostalgic feeling it’s also just refreshing to be able to get lost in such a cute, happy world. I feel similarly about Megaman games, another of my favorite series. I also loved games like Portal 2, which was visually stunning and have a very interesting story that always kept me on my toes. A game I can legitimately talk about the story of, and one that has doubtlessly affected my artwork, is Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. It isn’t my favorite game visually, nor story-wise, but I believe it is the game that most affected my art throughout the years. The paper diorama-esque look was the first time I ever saw an experimental art style in a game, and it stands out as one of my favorites to this day. The game is over 11 years old, but I feel it still holds up well visually. The story is intentionally simple, as the focus lies on the charm and humor of the individual characters. I deeply appreciate any game that can make me laugh consistently at the dialogue, even today. Admittedly, I realize nostalgia plays a big part here, but I’ve replayed the game recently and I feel it still holds up in gameplay, visuals and writing.