Games that inspire me

Anyone who has ever endeavoured to succeed in something has started from nothing. There are however many things that inspiration can be taken from. For myself it would be the games that I have loved and the artists that create them. The following is a list of some of my favourite games and some artists that have inspired me in some way to pursue a career in the games industry.

HORIZON ZERO DAWN (Guerrilla Games)

This Sci-fi RPG is a third person adventure developed by Guerrilla Games based in Amsterdam with a deep story brought to life by Aloy, an orphaned girl in a far off apocalyptic future where the land is roamed and ruled by biomechanical machines and rival tribes. Aloy grows to be a hunter, setting out to reveal her past.

The story and the characters of this title brought back my intention to pursue a career in games which started back in secondary school and carried me to study a diploma in Media, Animation and Games Design from 2005 - 2007. HZD is a story that is always unfolding, surprising and supported by realistic characters, environments and adaptable mechanics to suit player style to create an immersive adventure. HZD was further developed into an expansion released in 2017, Horizon Zero Dawn The Frozen Wilds, which is the prequel to Horizon Zero Dawn Forbidden West, to be released on 18 Feb 2022.

One particular artist involved with development is Miguel Martinez, principle concept artist. The ideas conveyed in his art seem to be brought from his background in engineering since he is a graduate of the Polytechnical University of Catalonia. He had designed the biomechanical machines for the game and much of the environment illustrations which set the mood and visually tell the story. Not too involved with the development of the main character but rather the biomechanical creatures. However, Miguel included Aloy in his art to tell the story and give player direction within the gameplay. Miguel was also heavily involved in the Killzone series before HZD was developed.

APEX LEGENDS (Respawn Entertainment / Panic Button)

Another Sci-fi genre but on the side of multiplayer FPS. Apex Legends (AL) is a Battle Royale and Arena FPS released in February 2019, developed by Respawn Entertainment and Panic Button. There is an overarching story involved to include all the characters (Legends), however I'm more interested in the specific stories, designs and the development of the characters.

Each character is unique in that they have their own unique abilities that can be paired to work in unison with other characters. Additionally the characters also have various skins that can be unlocked through playing the game to earn apex packs or purchased with in game currency.

One aspect to take away from is the lore behind each character. For instance Valkyrie (Kairi Imahara) released in season 9 of AL, has a back story that matches her design and personality which is portrayed in the unlockable emotes and interactions with other characters.

It would be beneficial to create a character with a developed backstory and visual design to match.

Jeremy Jodoin is responsible for the creation of the 3D Valkyrie base character along with the support of his colleagues during development.

THE OUTER WORLDS (Obsidian Entertainment / Private Division)

This release by Obsidian Entertainment is the most recent for the developer in the Sci-fi genre with a sequel on the way (The Outer Words 2, date TBD) which is being developed alongside Avowed (Date TBD), the developers "Next epic first-person RPG"

Obsidian is known to produce games predominantly within the Sci-fi and fantasy genres. However The Outer Worlds stands apart for me due to its art style, quirky characters and story.

While the all the characters that the player comes across are NPC's, they come with unique backstories and abilities that unfolds as the player progresses. The players makes narrative decisions during dialogue that has some influence on interactions and relationships to add to immersion.

A particular aspect about The Outer Worlds that I enjoyed most was the character props regarding weaponry. Ken LeSaint's work on the game development involved weaponry which is a blend of sci-fi style with hints of steampunk and vintage ornamental styling.

MASS EFFECT SERIES (Bioware)

The Mass Effect series saw three releases by Obsidian in 2008, 2010 and 2012 which have all been recently remastered and re-released in 2021. The developer are also known for creating the Dragon Age series. Obsidian's games feature role playing at it's core covering realistic art styles in the sci-fi and fantasy genre.

Characters of both series are varied in many aspects to include fictional races such as Dwarves, Elves and a plethora of futuristic aliens such as the Asari, Turians, Krogan and Quarians.

While the races of the characters in the Dragon Age games are all of the same medieval style in terms of clothing and equipment, Mass Effect characters all fit within sci-fi styling but with a lot of variation concerning cultural and biological difference compared to humans at varied degree's. The different races feature armour and equipment that suits physicality and biology as each race are from planets other than earth.

Although most races within the Mass Effect universe are humanoid, their individual looks reflect the background information about each race. Where they are from and the environment they live in, cultural customs, general way of life.