I just can't help but feel that Grand Theft Auto IV's rise to glory is overblown. How can a game whose main goal is to provide a violent and sexual power fantasy mostly geared towards adult males be considered even better than a game whose main goal is to provide a beautiful, emotional experience that everyone can enjoy? The latter description refers to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which was recently bested by GTAIV as the best rated game of all time after almost 10 years.

GTAIV, while providing inmersive gameplay and wonderful though-out mechanics is still a game that puts providing a power fantasy over providing a deep, emotional experience (and accomplishes it well). In other words, whatever such experience may result from GTAIV is a side-effect, not the main, intended effect. OoT, on the other hand, while providing an epic power fantasy as The Hero of Time, is still a game that puts providing a wholesome deep, emotional experience over providing said fantasy (and accomplishes it well). In other words, whatever power fantasy may rersult from OoT is a side-effect, not the main, intended effect.

By "deep, emotional experience" I mean an experience where experimenting emotions such as happiness, sadness, sorrow, sympathy, apathy, awe, etc. is the intended purpose. "Power fantasies" themselves do not provide these experiences, since they aim to make people feel the "rush" and "glory" of being the best at something, or being (by definition) powerful in some sense. The "power fantasy" appeals to feelings that are simple and physical, the "deep, emotional experience" appeals to emotions that are complex and mental (unique to human nature).

So while GTAIV can provide the emotional experience, it certainly seeks to provide the power fantasy before anything else. OoT, on the other hand, may provide the power fantasy as a side-effect, but it clearly aims to provide the emotional experience first and foremost with its storytelling and character development.

This is not to say shooters can't have different priorities: Gears of War, BioShock, and the Metal Gear, Metrod Prime and Half-Life series all have the emotional experience first, and the power fantasy second, since they all shine first and foremost for their atmospheres, stories, and cast of characters, and second (a very close second) for whatever power fantasy they may provide. The fact that all these games take place in fictional worlds may very well be an indicator of how poorly the industry has managed to project realistic shooter experiences so far.

Fictional worlds can have power fantasies as first priority as well: Halo 2 and Resistance: Fall of Man are good examples. While the Halo series as a whole is strongly story-driven, in Halo 2 the focus clearly shifted to providing the (online) power fantasy over the emotional experience.

So the question I'd like answered is this: which is more important, the power fantasy or the emotional experience? To this current age in videogame culture, which is most important? The choice is apparently the power fantasy, if GTAIV's scores are to be believed. Then, is this really the kind of videogame culture we want? Opinions are kindly welcomed.

To me, the best games provide both, but the emotional experience must come first. That's what a masterpiece is all about: providing both, with the emotional experience as first priority. Great games with power fantasy as first priority are always remembered, but quickly put away or resold. Great games with emotional experiences as first priority are also always remembered, but are also usually preserved much longer than other games, both in our shelves in our minds.