Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3, Witcher 3, and Red Dead Redemption 2 are the ones that Immediately come to mind. I’m sure there’s more but those immediately flash out.
Also, Usually there would be Bethesda titles galore, but I feel like after Skyrim, their games have been just pretty good and not the masterpieces of western RPGS they were before.
So what comes to mind with you guys, what are your favorite games of the 8th console (or video games in general) generation?
- Disco Elysium ( :lt-dbyf-dubois: "I want to have fuck with you" )
- Grim Fandango ( it's a remaster but you never played it the first time round, you should. Also it legit started the leftist pipeline for me 20+ years ago)
- Return of the Obra Dinn (You're an insurance claim inspector, also murder solver)
- Outer Wilds (space banjos and chill exploration)
- Gone Home (Mystery exploration in an empty house)
- Factorio (ADHD danger warning)
- What Remains of Edith Finch (Mystery exploration in an empty house but with :cat-vibing: )
- Death Stranding (A literal walking simulator where you get to be a comrade and help strangers for fun)
- God of War (Midlife murder crisis)
Love Outer Wilds, but flying into planets and their weather systems for the first time is fucking terrifying
That game is cosmic horror in the original sense of "holy shit I am tiny and everything else is extremely not"
apart from factorio you and i have pretty similar tastes haha I second all these
I have managed to stay away from factorio, for I know it would mean my death if I ever played it
It’s shockingly addictive. I love it, but I know if I fell into playing it for more than an hour I’d let everything else in my life slide.
I am partial to narrative driven, single player games so that's what will make up most my list.
Here is my top 10. TIL comments have a character limit.
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The Last of Us Part II - The conditions that created this game should not ignored even if I view them as a symptom of capitalism in this industry more than evil whims of a singularly contemptuous game developer. That said, the conditions of filming the movie Stalker likely killed members of its crew including Tarkovsky himself, but that doesn't tarnish Stalker as a film. Similarly, TLOU2, judged solely as an artistic work in the medium, is, to me, the singular greatest achievement of the last generation. It is a technical marvel, including what I view may be the best lighting and animation to grace the medium yet. Seriously, any scene that was flame-lit left me in awe, and the level design is top class for single player linear games. It excels in gameplay, presenting one of the best stealth game experiences I've partaken in since MGS3 (I haven't played MGS 5) and largely enhanced due to its extremely context-aware animations. It's polished to a point where it perfectly feels like you are controlling someone competent in arms and combat, but not a super soldier like other games. The AI is extremely smart and dangerous to the point that getting noticed requires a tense, scramble and isn't just an inconvenience that you can mindlessly overcome. And narratively, it's one of the most ambitious games I've ever played, weaving themes of empathy, forgiveness, trauma, hate, and love and using the divide between player character and player to really push those themes to the forefront (kinda similar to SOTC if you start feeling guilty about your actions in that game and know what you're doing is wrong but push through anyway to see what happens). It's a combination of the all the strengths of a visual medium like film (top class acting/facial animation in the medium, cinematography, and editing) with a designed, interactive, "gaming" experience that compliments its narrative and themes. I think it pushes the medium forward narratively, technically, and artistically, and I think it will stand the test of time in influence.
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Kentucky Route Zero - This game was a testament to me that this medium we call "video games" has long moved beyond consisting only of "games" and now includes pieces of digital, narrative, interactive fiction that can leave a greater impact on me than anything with rule sets and win/lose conditions. Almost a combination of game, literature, and play, KRZ tackles themes of debt and the blight of late stage capitalism using some of the best prose and writing I've seen in a game and using its 2D point-and-click adventure stage to showcase extremely clever blocking and cinematographic techniques that scratched an aesthetic itch for me. The magical realism also adds a lot to the game, allowing for some really memorable visuals and moments. Yeah if you've read Gabriel García Márquez or seen Waiting For Godot before, you might see too much an influence, but for this medium, I think this is another big step forward. Seriously, just check out some of the stills to this game and see if you are interested. It's split into 5 acts, with interludes in between and only took me around 13 hours.
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Disco Elysium - I'm sure lots of people here are aware of this game and don't need to hear me gush about it. The political themes immediately stand out, and any game that allows me to be a Big Communist Builder is something I'm going to gravitate to (even when building the communism thought completely in the game is so honestly brutal). The world feels so real in how the conditions of the current narrative are so intertwined with its political history and conflicts. But the biggest innovation here is the skill tree that is made up of emotions/instincts more than anything, where the skills end up talking to you as you move throughout the game and talk to other characters. It's great writing, a great world, great art, an innovative gameplay system, and it was made by people who literally thanked Marx and Engels on stage at The Game Awards. Try it out if you haven't.
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Nier: Automata - Honestly, if this game didn't have so many anime elements and a protagonist in a French Maid costume with a camera that wants to stare up her ass, I may have put it even higher. There's some enjoyable Platinum gameplay, even if not too challenging, placed in a world and narrative that highlights existential themes on meaning and purpose, and these themes are tied into the gameplay in incredibly clever ways. I haven't played the previous Nier games, so the way Yoko Taro ties the medium to his stories was novel to me and left a memorable mark. Yeah, there are at least three (or 4-5?) endings needed to witness the real ending (each playthrough is not the same, although playthrough B is similar to playthrough A), but that ending was extremely worth it for me. One of the most memorable moments in gaming for this generation and my experience with the medium as a whole. Truly a work that could only exist in this medium. Also the music is top notch.
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The Witcher 3 - The Open World standard for me. I like my open world games to feature interesting characters, layered and engrossing quest lines that build upon each other, and a world that immerses me during the hours I spend in it and rewards my exploration. TW3 provided all three. I still think about some of the side quests in this game from time to time, and every open world game since has not come close to meeting TW3 when it comes to quest design. It helped that my playthrough was influenced by decisions in The Witcher 1 and 2, and that I had familiarity with these characters from playing those games. It also required decisions from me that weren't simply "be an evil asshole or not". My only real issues with it are that the gameplay combat is really only serviceable and fine and the main storyline kinda rushes to its conclusion in the end from what I remember. I played it in late 2015 so never go around to the DLC expansions, but I'm hoping to replay in the next year or two and see how much those add to the experiences. Regardless, the game offered tons of hours of entertainment, a gorgeous world, and a narrative and side narratives that were engrossing and rewarding. You can see the influence in the latest Assassin's Creeds, Horizon, Ghost of Tsushima, and other open world games.
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God of War - Probably the best reboot of a series I've encountered. I enjoyed the original God of War games in my youth, but I never loved them as much as others because I never really loved Kratos and always thought he was an asshole. This entry helped change that. Clearly inspired by The Last of Us, God of War features characters with some actual depth and characterization, and makes use of mo cap acting to build off lessons learned in TLOU and bring these characters to life. The combat is seriously fun (the Leviathan axe has to be one of my favorite weapons from this generation) but also provides a decent challenge. But really it's the presentation and use of "single-take" camera that helps make this an immersive experience. Again, we see the lessons learned through other media brought in to make this medium even stronger. Also it has one of the most hype scenes this generation midway through.
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Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - Sekiro has the best sword combat of any game I've ever played, period. No game has better implemented parrying and the feeling of being locked in a sword battle with an opponent better than this game, and it led to some of the most memorable boss fights I've ever encountered. Yes, it is hard, but it is so worth it to get good enough to beat these bastards and see this game through to the end. The stealth combat also was an enjoyable and thematically fitting addition (you being a ninja and all). The story isn't so subtle as past From Software games, but I was cool with that andenjoyed the themes of power and corruption. If you ever wanted a sword fighting game to seriously challenge you but make you feel like a real bad ass once you got through that challenge, then Sekiro may be for you.
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Hollow Knight - For now, this is the peak of the Metroidvania genre for me. It's incredible how much was created by a three person team. Yes, it's a metroidvania so there is the influence of Super Metroid/Castlevania and yes there is clearly some influence from Dark Souls with the mechanic for retrieving your currency from the place you died. But every game has its inspirations, and these inspirations all just add to the experience to create a deep, memorable world in Hollow Nest. The gameplay is tight, the art is great, the boss battles are challenging, clever, and fun, and there is 60+ hours available for just $15 max.
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Bloodborne - My first From Software experience. Great combat that encourages aggressive play and an intriguing Lovecraftian world/lore. The world and level design here is honestly just fantastic, and I really hope they put out a 60fps upgrade eventually. It's another challenging game, but rewarding and I think a great introduction into the SoulsBorne genre. You may have to find a YouTube video to explain it all to you, though.
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Red Dead Redemption 2 - I need to replay the first to really see which one I prefer, but this game is honestly up there with some of my favorite Leone films when it comes to Westerns. Arthur Morgan is one of the most memorable and realized protagonists created in the last generation, and witnessing his arc was one of my favorite experiences of the generation. Plus, the world is gorgeous. It could have been much higher, but the repetitive Rockstar gameplay really became stale with this entry.
Runner Ups:
- The Last Guardian
- Outer Wilds
- What Remains of Edith Finch
- Uncharted 4
- Persona 5
Thanks!
Yeah, I still catch myself thinking about it sometimes and it's been 9 months since I played it. It really left a mark with me. I'm looking forward to the more toxic discourse around it tapering off as the years go by and it being more commonly regarded as a staple of the medium's canon, which I truly believe it will be
I'll just add the rest.I've tracked my ranking to keep track on how I viewed the games I've played and where I thought they fell in regard to the rest of the generation so I'm just copying this really.
- Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
- Her Story
- Rocket League
- Papers, Please
- Control
- Doom
- Horizon: Zero Dawn
- Inside
- Hyper Light Drifter
- Spider-Man
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Titanfall 2
- Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
- Axiom Verge
- Ori and the Blind Forest
- Ghost of Tsushima
- Firewatch
- Assassin's Creed: Black Flag
- The Outer Worlds
- Titanfall
- Resogun
- Assassin's Creed: Origins
- Fallout 4
- Destiny
- Shadow of Mordor
- Infamous: Second Son
- Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy
- Halo 5
- Star Wars: Battlefront
Great write-ups.
I'm so conflicted by Uncharted 4 in your runners-up, though. It's a great game and I love it to bits. And yet the ending interests and frustrates me so much. The epilogue completely demolishes all the themes the game had established up to that point for the sake of a fanservicey happy ending, and that should bug the shit out of me. But it kinda doesn't? Despite the thematic issues, that happy ending still feels earned somehow. And despite myself, despite how wary I am of big-budget stories about how family's what's actually important after all, I really love these characters- and in a way that I didn't in the previous entries in the series. The character beats and themes are really nothing that special if you ignore that they're happening in a video game, but it feels like there's a soul to it.
Yeah I remember feeling like the ending could have been darker due to his decisions Nathan and Sam make throughout the game, but I felt like a happy ending made sense for series as a whole and was what I wanted for these characters.
It's a simple, block buster story, but it's executed so well it doesn't really bother me. Maybe keeps it from being in my top 10, but still so well done and enjoyable that it's not too far behind. It's my favorite of the series, I think, although I haven't played 2 in a very long time.
It's not that it could have been darker, it's that the one theme the game had been really pushing was "wanting/pursuing this treasure will alienate your loved ones and get you killed". But then, in the end, Nate and Elena only achieve their dreams because Sam insisted on pursuing the treasure to the end (and was therefore able to pocket a few coins). You could argue that it only worked because Sam didn't keep the coins for himself, but it still doesn't really sit right with me. It retroactively makes Elena wrong in all her arguments with Nate throughout the game, and that's super not the point of those.
Yeah by darker I meant either Sam could have died for pursuing the treasure at the end or Nate could have ruined his marriage. It's been a while since I played it so details are fuzzy.
From what I remember, I think Elena's major problem with Nathan was his lying to her and not treating her as a partner by being dishonest. I think it's implied in the end, when Elena joins Nathan in Libertalia, that being in another adventure is part of what helps bring them together and something Elena enjoys as well as Nate. So it's less the treasure hunting being the problem and more the dishonesty in their relationship and Nathan's inability to be open with her about his discontent with a quieter life.
But you are right about the other theme, captured by Libertalia, is greed and toxic desire for treasure. But thinking about it, Sam giving up the treasure is good enough for me to adhere to that theme.
Nathan opens up to Elena about his past and discontent with quiet life, and learns to value his family more than anything, even destroying the treasure to save Sam. Elena learns that she values excitement as much as Nathan. And Sam, opposed to the pirates of Libertalia, gives up the treasure he kept to help his family.
I can see your issue with him only having the treasure anyway because he pursued it, and how it can be antithetical to the themes for them to benefit from that, but I think they work enough for me for each individual's character arc in the game. Nathan and Elena didn't choose the treasure, so them being rewarded doesn't bother me so much
I guess I would have liked the ending more if it was exactly the same, but Sam just hadn't taken any coins. Nate having to specifically choose to sink the treasure is a fine conclusion to his arc in the game (and frankly, him giving up the treasure by just stopping the search partway through doesn't really work narratively- he had to reject it in a more concrete way), and Sam declaring that he only wanted the treasure because family is a bit hokey, but it does also function to close his arc and explain why his obsession isn't enough to kill him. I just feel like having all that, but Sam also kept some coins to give to Nate... like, it works thematically, but I think it would have been stronger to not have that.
Totally valid! Think they were just trying to give the characters as happy a send off as possible, and it's enjoyable enough. I don't mind the cheat so much I guess because I enjoy the happy ending selfishly and don't mind paying for it in this game with a little inconsistency.
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Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice was really, really, good, and it got interesting (but in a good way) with its depiction of schizophrenia. It's a smaller indie game, but it definitely pushes the bounds of what stories video games can tell.
I played it after a friend who suffered some sort of schizophrenia bought it for me, it is a good game.
Nothing has yet touched MGS 1 & 2
Let me know when they start making real art like that
Borderlands 2.
Destiny 2 eventually was very good if you had buddies to play it with.
BF4 was super polished - the atmosphere in those games is fucking amazing. The maps are big, but not too big, the vehicles are strong, but not too strong, the gunplay has a lovely feel to it - good balance of realism and arcade. BFBC2 all the way up to BF4 hold a special place in my heart.
Human Fall Flat. No explanation needed.
BFBC 2 was so much fun. BF1 was beautiful, but didn't have the same pure mayhem as previous BF games.
yup, BF1 was amazing too. For me I felt like sometimes the chaos was matched in that game, but because it's set in older times the dynamics of the maps was quite limited, whereas BF4 they could have skyscrapers, massive radar dishes, etc etc. There was a lot of running straight into gunfire and hoping you don't die, instead of getting proper flanks. Blowing a horse up with dynamite was fucking hilarious, mind.
Also, in BF1 again cos of the time period, the guns and gadgets all felt a bit samey. And you and to unlock stuff using earnt credits rather than XP.
BFV didn't really do it for me. I don't know what they did with the colours but it just looked wrong. Gunplay felt different too. And the Boins. The fucking Boins.
I still played the shit out of BF1 and enjoyed it, it just didn't feel quite as epic as some of the other BF games. Gorgeous game though.
The first time I spawned in BFBC2 a jeep drove by me, then a tank blew up the jeep and Jeep carcass killed me. Hooked instantly.
There's still active servers on PC. I drop in on BFBC2 from time to time. Holds up.
The first week or so of Forsaken is just one of my favorite gaming experiences of all time. It truly felt like I was playing something special at the time.
IDK, Probably Persona 5, Super Mario Odyssey, Dark Souls and many indie titles.
I’m impressed. Persona 5 was awesome and I usually prefer western to JRPGS (aside from snes jrpgs which are some of the best of the best like Chrono Trigger and super Mario rpg)
Dishonored/Prey
Disco Elysium
Satisfactory/Factorio
AC Origins (I know, but the recreation of Ptolemaic Egypt is incredible.)
Kingdom Come: Deliverance (ditto for a 5km stretch of rural Bohemia in the 1300s)
Mechwarrior 5
Half Life :Alyx (for the 5 people able to run it it was a revelation)
No Man's Sky. (Rocky start but now a genuinely amazing game, especially in VR)
The first Dishonored falls just outside of OP's time range, but it was the first thing I thought of too. Honestly, for being AAA games both Dishonored and especially Prey feel very under-rated. They were both super formative for me, but almost nobody I know has played Prey, and while Dishonored is usually mentioned in threads like these it's never the most popular.
Prey was going to be my answer coming into this thread. Absolutely far too underrated. I've never played any game with a setting that felt as real and lived-in as Talos 1.
Even its DLC, Mooncrash, was a really interesting experiment. It's not as good as the base game, and at a certain point it becomes very easy to game it and turn it into a cakewalk, but I so appreciated that they tried something different.
Mechwarrior 5? Really, i liked it but not really game of the decade material, considering how scuffed some of those missions are and how repitative it is
I'd kind of been waiting for it for 20 years, and Mech 2 was one of my first games, so it really hit a spot for me. Shame about them dumping VR support though.
I'm currently working my way through Yakuza 0. Just finished Chapter 2 and finished Majima's introduction which was pretty great. Liking it so far, but hope the next games can keep my interest. Your thoughts have me a little concerned about that. I play single player games mostly over multiplayer so maybe I'll be more into them
Divinity Original Sin 2 is the best turn based RPG I've ever played.
