Games that, for better or worse, changed the landscape of gaming, invented new genres, had major influences on other games etc.
My shortlist (in no particular order)
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Super Mario 64, basically invented 3D platformers, I mean, Nintendo designed the damn controller around that game
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Resident Evil 4, all 3rd person action games owe a debt to RE4, and for worse probably, set the stage for brown color palate shooters that dominated the subsequent generation
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Doom, the Charlemagne of FPS games, basically every FPS is descended from it
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Fortnite, killed the "loot box" style of predatory monetization in favor of the battle pass model that a ton of other games have switched over to, and was a genuine cultural phenomenon
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Minecraft, the tsunami of survival crafting games of the 2010s all basically emerged from the shadow Minecraft's popularity
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Dune 2, godfather of the RTS genre, no Command and Conquer or Starcraft if Dune 2 isn't a huge success
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World of Warcraft, probably the most influential and well known MMORPG of all time, so many imitators tried to take its crown and failed, and was/is a cultural phenomenon
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Dark Souls, invented the Soulslike genre, launched the career of Hidetaka Miyazaki, and its considered one of the greatest games ever made
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Pokemon Red/Blue, Pokemon is the most profitable media franchise of all time, and Pokemon long served as the flagship of handheld gaming
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Breath of the Wild, I kind of wanted to slot Elden Ring in here because I think ER's influence on the open world genre will be felt for years to come but I think its too early to tell. But BOTW was a genre defining open world game, is on the shortlist for one of the greatest games ever made, and even influenced Elden Ring
I dont think I'm able to elaborate, but all I'll say is IMO people value the Souls games too much.
Please dont yell at me im sorry :(
I understand not liking or vibing with them (which is totally cool and good), but I think it's pretty difficult to call them "overvalued" as a whole. It's pretty rare to get a series—especially of video games—that is critically lauded, very commercially successful, and somehow has a massive cult following that has inspired tons of people, both inside and out of the industry. Heck, we got a full-on AAA Star Wars game that cribbed from Soulsborne stuff. That's pretty wild to me.
I think maybe pre-Sekiro I might have agreed with you. Sekiro might have been the turning point for me because that's when it became clear people who never played anything in the genre before wanted to get into it and the conversation around difficulty and accessibility really ramped up. With just how massive Elden Ring was and how much the audience expanded, I think their influence can only grow.
I think in terms of importance in gaming history and personal taste aside, FromSoft's sizable influence on the industry is absolutely undeniable. Check out Iron Pineapple's series where he plays random and recommended SoulsBorne games on Steam if you're curious as to just how far the series has reached. Even with a ton of misses, people have been inspired to make some really cool Soulslike stuff.
Anyways, sorry for the novel. I appreciate your take and hope people are nice to you because "troo fanz" can be super awful.
Yeah you're right that's why every news outlet calls every moderately difficult game "The Bubsy 3D of [genre]"