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Best user interface in games

I'm playing Suikoden Tactics right now and the typical simple but clunky Suikoden menus remind that Suikoden 3 actually broke the mold and had a clean, attractive, and effective menu system that, as a Technical Writer, greatly appealed to me, but was discarded along with everything else original, good and bad, that Suikoden 3 introduced (other than the skills system).

When I played Suikoden 3, I realized that attractively laid out and functional interface design was quite possible in games. Symphony of the Night's menus were nothing special, but its on-screen indicators were very graceful and attractive.

I love good page layout and clean, simple design. Most RPGs have very cluttered interfaces based off of the Final Fantasy mold (although I greatly appreciate the ability to hop through characters with L and R introduced in the SNES Final Fantasy games), or overly simplistic menus that are difficult to navigate ala Dragon Quest.

I like the elegant and functional four wall look of the N64 Zelda game subscreens, even if the visuals look too plastic-like. Oddly, I also like the menus found in Mr. Driller for DS with their animated cartoon bubbles. Mega Man 2&3 were cluttered, but strangely fun to navigate. Ico's lack of any real menu or on-screen indicators was admirable.

Playing the .Hack demo, I found I was drawn in by the fake network GUI, much like the internet system in Front Mission 3.

What are some other user interfaces that people like in games?
 
PhatSaqs said:
It's not a game, but the 360 interface > *.

True. I'm more impressed by seeing all that information organized on screen than I suspect I will be by any next-gen game for the near future.

When I got a DS, I felt a warm glow in my stomach upon seeing that it had a GUI-only to have it crushed by the requirement to constantly shut down the system upon making any changes or entering any application.
 
I like the Super Smash Bros Melee interface, it's clean and easy
I also like the aspect of movable menus in meteos
 
Diomedeskun said:
What are some other user interfaces that people like in games?
I've always thought first party Nintendo games have had the best and most intuitive UI systems out there. OOT/TWW both have a fantastic UI, as do the titles from Intelligent Systems (Advance Wars, Paper Mario, etc.).

I really dug the interface systems in Vib/Mojib Ribbon, too.
 
Deus Ex would at least make my top 10. Great interface for an RPG-FPS hybrid.


On the other hand, deus ex 2 would make my list for worst game ever.
 
Almost all games have horrible interfaces in some way or another, it rarely seems like anyone can get it all right, visual design, usability and intrusiveness almost never line up in a way that makes sense.
 
It's nothing complex, but IIRC Ridge Racer V had a really simple, slick interface. I believe that's fairly consistent across the series.
 
Twisted Metal Black's was awesome, the way it pans around between menus...and when you choose your driver, you can zoom in and out to view the driver or the vehicle. It was one of the first games to blow me away with an interface
 
I'm an unbelievably huge UI nerd. Little, tiny, itty bitty annoying UI shit bugs me like you wouldn't believe, and a clean, comfortable, well designed, smooth, fast, pleasant UI makes me lovelove the game by several notches.

I'd actually rate UI and usability above several other factors in my enjoyment of a game

It covers a whole spectrum of shitty game design decisions (who didn't want to bind weapons in RE4 to a button?), to tiny user interface annoyances, or even general 'feel' issues

Good UIs = :)
 
I'd say Freelancer. It has a great interface that almost makes it a great game.

I'd also say Tron 2.0. It's similar to Nolf or Deus Ex.
 
I have to say Metroid Prime. It just felt like the whole package (be it the interface while you are about exploring the world to the pause menu to main menu...everything fit)
 
metroid-prime-2-echoes-20040820091851705.jpg

Love it.
 
Another World, Ico, King Kong. Basically, the game itself is an interface. Nothing in terms of gauges or counters is ever overlaid on the screen.

How about the XMB interface that PSP (and supposingly the PS3) uses. I think that's pretty neatly designed.
I love XMB, it's usability, cleannes, simplicity and reliance on animation/transitions and not on bevels, drop shadows, gradients and whatnot. This is about games though.
 
JRPereira said:
Deus Ex would at least make my top 10. Great interface for an RPG-FPS hybrid.


On the other hand, deus ex 2 would make my list for worst game ever.

DX1 had a normal UI found in literally dozens and dozens of PC RPGs before.

You nailed the DX2 UI on the other hand.
 
Any game by Intelligent Systems. Their menu interfaces are always top-notch, with lots of attention to detail, lots of polish. See Mario Kart on GBA for a great example. Letters that bounce just for the hell of it, stylish menu transitions, a big mode-7 wheel that spins, along with an animated scrolling background. Menu items/text come in place by springing or slowly stopping. Nothing feels stiff.

These guys know UI.
 
I was a big fan of the interface Sierra used in all their 2D adventure games (King's Quests, Space Quests, Quest for Glory, etc.) back in the day.
 
I rather liked Metroid Prime 2 Echoes' interface. The in-game GUI was well integrated, and the menus, particularly for the logs, were very helpful, clean, and informative. Nintendo, in general, and Intelligent Systems, specifically, create very clean interfaces and GUIs as well, for the most part.
 
Nintendo's first party games often have excellent UI. On the other hand Civ 4 springs to mind as a game that has rather poor UI, especially when compared to Civ 3, which had nice, simple and logical system.
 
From the top of my head:

X360 dash

XMB

Halo 2 multiplayer setup

WarCraft 3 multiplayer setup

World of WarCraft interface(how a really complex and deep game made easy to play)
 
I like the PSP UI, and hope Playstation 3 evolves this.

I can come onto the boards next Winter and chant, "My UI is better than yours, my UI is better than yours!" And Cockles will bow down to me and concede.

Then, I'll strut.
 
Dragon Warrior VIII.

I love how they spearheaded the "do you want to look in your bag or organize it" prompt every time you tried to use anything in your inventory.

And special kudos for the uninterruptable 8 lines of slowscroll text every time you used the alchemy pot. I mean, you only use it about 5000 times in the entire game.
 
B&W2 has the best UI ive ever used, easiest city building ever (included Sim City), simple edition of letting you drag out roads and sturctures from existing ones just makes the whole process SO much easier. Becomes second nature in minutes.
 
This thread sucks without pictures. Why don't we all update our posts with our favorite HUD and include a pic of it - for comparisons sake?
 
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