Execution / Game

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Honestly, I am fanatical about a lot of games but I can only think of TLOU being the only game that uses all the elements without being clunky. The game's tone, theme and even Joel's and Ellie's characterization are seen THROUGH gameplay, not just ''SHHHH CUTSCENE".

Planescape: Torment? Also, who says "SHHHH CUTSCENE" is necessarily a bad thing? I offer Metal Gear Solid as evidence to the contrary. Regardless, nothing is perfect, and I don't see how it makes sense to say video games are somehow inherently less perfect than other forms of art. Other games that balance their elements: Morrowind, Thief 1+2, Portal, Splinter Cell series (in my opinion). None of these games are perfect but they are balanced in such a way that they are greater than the sum of their parts, and there are countless more examples.

EDIT: Wait, the fact that games stop being games when you remove their core feature is evidence that they are inferior to other forms of art? A bike is worth nothing without wheels, does that mean riding a bicycle is inferior to walking? Of course games aren't reducible, but who said they were?