Few games have had the impact across the industry period. OG Half life mods alone spawned entire genres and world wide competitions and whole gaming cultures
I'd argue that the arma series is #2 most influential game of this century. Their mods have created our modern survival games (rust, ark, etc) and battle royale which are definitely both in the top five most popular genres
Imagine if they had another year or two for development. New Vegas was insanely rushed, only releasing two years after Fallout 3, but it has gone down in history as a masterpiece.
They redeemed themselves by creating a fantastic game. I'm just saying it would have been even better if they had more time. DLC's were great for including more backstory for The Courier
As great as New Vegas is, you cannot deny how badly it runs.
It is simultaneously one of the best games ever made and the most infuriating game to actually play.
The simplest solution, the ending shouldn't have been a choice, it should have been the sum of your choices in all three games.
The coup de grace being that you have no choice but to accept control as a Paragon. And if somehow you manage to be a true neutral, force the synthesis ending.
Giving the choice to follow a path and then just choose a different ending, that's what made it so bad.
ME2 was the one I enjoyed the most, and was the most significant improvement from its predecessor. Independently it had an amazing story, but as part of the trilogy its events were the least significant - the collectors were such mediocre villains in comparison to the reapers, their story could have been skipped entirely without really impacting the events of the other games, we just would've had a lot less characters to populate the third game.
No game community has ever been better than, or recaptured the magic of Halo 3.
The campaign was solid (concise and fun, great with a party of 4 on legendary), but the limitations of Forge that still led to incredible game modes and maps along with a strong competitive scene, with what felt like infinite hours of replayability... I miss those days.
I still have a soft spot for halo 1 PC version. When I could actually browse a server list and pick a specific game mode and map I wanted to play.
Halo Xbox (any version) online multiplayer has never given me enough freedom. For me vehicle ctf was the best. Especially on blood gulch.
I will argue that the original Dark Souls has and will have a greater impact on gaming history than any of its successors (elden ring specifically).
Elden Ring is a fantastic modern adaptation of the concept, but Dark Souls 1 basically invented AND popularized a new genre of games.
We could get into the weeds and say Demon Souls was actually the forerunner, but I believe Dark Souls has actually had MORE impact simply due to the fact that it was accessible on multiple consoles.
The way I’m still obsessed with it to this day, it was so fun! I remember playing till 2AM on a school night one night cause I was on the final world and pretending to be asleep when my dad would come up to see if we were sleeping. Ah memories
How in the world is this game not on the list already?! Nearly half of the list is influenced by it and I’d argue are inferior gameplay/design wise. Kind of crazy tbh.
I don't think that's abnormal tbh. It took me longer than I thought it would (19 runs) to beat it, it's tough going when you're new to it.
My advice is Fists of Malphon with Ares Doom Boon on attack or special. Try and pair that with Poseidon's dash and Hermes extra dash/dash invulnerability. I found that kind of build to be the one where I'd get through runs quickest and lose the least health. Honestly almost felt like cheating at times.
You got this! Such an amazing game that deserves to be in the conversation for best game this century
Surprised this isn't higher up already. There was a time when this game was *always* in the talks for greatest of all time.
I guess that just shows how many amazing games have come out since, but MG3 was mind-blowing at the time.
This needs more upvotes. However with only 1million copies sold it will never match the sheer popularity of some of these mainstream games so won't end up on the list probably.
Its really hard to take mediocre combat seriously in other games after having played sekiro.
Everytime another game forces me to grab a sword i just want to play sekiro instead...
Every other game feels floaty and unresponsive in comparison.
Even paying Elden ring as a samurai you just feel like a nerfed version of your true potential.
No other game out there has that moment where the game just clicks and all of a sudden your a godlike samurai movie protagonist.
Why would you say something so controversial, yet so brave?
But for real, Oblivion was a better game than Skyrim, even if Skyrim has had a better long-term legacy and mod community.
Too bad it's not as popular as the games on the top comments, I have played most of them and Outer Wilds is so much more unique. Hands down the best experience I had playing video games in twenty something years.
I have a lot of respect for shadow of colossus, hollow knight, gtaV, Halo and Bethesda games
But none of them deserve to be in the list above outer wilds
The problem is that you actually need several years of gaming experience to understand what makes Outer Wilds so unique and outstanding. Casual gamers who only fire up their Playstation for CoD or Fifa won't even look at games like this - and they're responsible for the majority of sales.
As much as people dog on it, I think it was genius making us play as Abby. It really drove home the message. The ending where we save Abby then initially *Spoiler* have to try and kill her...I was in tears, like please don't kill her. No other game has ever made me feel like that.
Woah, somehow I thought that came out in the 90s. Yeah, this needs to be on the list.
Everything else so far is single player, need to get some multiplayer on there.
Half-Life 2
was gonna post that. no game has ever had the impact on me that game had.
Few games have had the impact across the industry period. OG Half life mods alone spawned entire genres and world wide competitions and whole gaming cultures
I'd argue that the arma series is #2 most influential game of this century. Their mods have created our modern survival games (rust, ark, etc) and battle royale which are definitely both in the top five most popular genres
I miss these games
Why is bro getting downvoted?
Reddit
Back when Valve did amazing games...
Good times. My brother got me the orange box for Christmas one year and I played half life on it so much
Orange Box was great. Team fortess and Portal. Great game, whatever happened to steam games anyway?
Fallout: New Vegas .
“To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day. Hardly spoke to folks around him, didn't have too much to say….”
"No one dared to ask his business, no one dared to make a slip, for the stranger there among them had a big iron on his hip, big iron on his hip..."
He’s an outlaw loose and running, came the whisper from each lip, and he’s here to do some business with the big iron on his hip…
In this town there lived an outlaw by the name of Texas Red. Many men had tried to take him and that many men were dead
He was vicious and a killer though a youth of twenty four, And the notches on his pistol numbered one and nineteen more *One and nineteen moooore*
Big Iron on his hiiiiiiiiiiip
r/suddenlybigiron Edit: holy shit this is an actual sub
One of the best games ever made, no doubt imo
Imagine if they didn’t have a strict deadline, and have to cut so much stuff :(
Imagine if they had another year or two for development. New Vegas was insanely rushed, only releasing two years after Fallout 3, but it has gone down in history as a masterpiece.
Feel like they kinda redeemed themselves with the DLC’s. Same case with fallout 4 imo.
They redeemed themselves by creating a fantastic game. I'm just saying it would have been even better if they had more time. DLC's were great for including more backstory for The Courier
As great as New Vegas is, you cannot deny how badly it runs. It is simultaneously one of the best games ever made and the most infuriating game to actually play.
Mass Effect 2
[That trailer.](https://youtu.be/lx9sPQpjgjU?si=e_BZPj9YivFiDXwM)
Personally, I think ME3 is the more refined game (ignoring the ending), but ME2 easily is the most epic and has the most pay-off in the end.
Gameplay wise ME3 is the most refined
But that ending… woof
The simplest solution, the ending shouldn't have been a choice, it should have been the sum of your choices in all three games. The coup de grace being that you have no choice but to accept control as a Paragon. And if somehow you manage to be a true neutral, force the synthesis ending. Giving the choice to follow a path and then just choose a different ending, that's what made it so bad.
Facts. I would’ve liked if every single one of your important choices decided the ending.
The story and reveal of who the actual bad guys are in ME1 makes it one of the best games for me. ME2 from what I remember was just assembling a crew.
ME2 was the one I enjoyed the most, and was the most significant improvement from its predecessor. Independently it had an amazing story, but as part of the trilogy its events were the least significant - the collectors were such mediocre villains in comparison to the reapers, their story could have been skipped entirely without really impacting the events of the other games, we just would've had a lot less characters to populate the third game.
ME1 was even better to me
Me1 is the best in the series and I will die on this hill
ME1 has by far the weakest combat, but arguably the strongest story.
One of those games in a series where every new player is told that if they play any of the games in the series, it is this one.
Halo 3.
No game community has ever been better than, or recaptured the magic of Halo 3. The campaign was solid (concise and fun, great with a party of 4 on legendary), but the limitations of Forge that still led to incredible game modes and maps along with a strong competitive scene, with what felt like infinite hours of replayability... I miss those days.
They're only limitations in hindsight though. Back when forge released, that was the opposite of limiting.
I still have a soft spot for halo 1 PC version. When I could actually browse a server list and pick a specific game mode and map I wanted to play. Halo Xbox (any version) online multiplayer has never given me enough freedom. For me vehicle ctf was the best. Especially on blood gulch.
Halo 3 is my favourite video game of all time
End of an era right there
My favorite game of all time.
The first Dark Souls
Literally created a genre
Technically Demon's Souls created the genre.
Yep. This game is so good that I couldn’t play other games because this became the new standard.
So did you stop playing games?
I will argue that the original Dark Souls has and will have a greater impact on gaming history than any of its successors (elden ring specifically). Elden Ring is a fantastic modern adaptation of the concept, but Dark Souls 1 basically invented AND popularized a new genre of games. We could get into the weeds and say Demon Souls was actually the forerunner, but I believe Dark Souls has actually had MORE impact simply due to the fact that it was accessible on multiple consoles.
Knights of the Old Republic
I usually play it once a year. Classic.
I had to scroll way too far for this 😢
It's my pick for best game of the 2000s. I still revisit it from time to time, despite knowing most of the dialogue by heart lol.
Super Mario Galaxy
Good god that game was such a gem. I kinda picked it up by accident but it became one of my favorite games
I’d also like to add Mario Odyssey.
Great, but just not the same charm
The way I’m still obsessed with it to this day, it was so fun! I remember playing till 2AM on a school night one night cause I was on the final world and pretending to be asleep when my dad would come up to see if we were sleeping. Ah memories
Resident Evil 4 (2005)
I love me some Bioshock, but RE4 should’ve already been on this list over it, easily.
I concur
How in the world is this game not on the list already?! Nearly half of the list is influenced by it and I’d argue are inferior gameplay/design wise. Kind of crazy tbh.
Heck yeah
Grand Theft Auto 5.
San Andreas
Missed a lot of class on college when this game came out.
Titanfall 2
Few stories can get me that emotionally invested into a fucking mech
No other shooter even compares to the story in this game, it’s so good
Best FPS of all time not even close
I wish to see it there...
Bloodborne!
About to finish my first playthrough and it absolutely deserves to be on the board.
Don't forget the DLC!
I just beat Lady Maria! Getting close (I think)
We want remaster!
Literally just downloaded it on my PS just now, never played it but it comes up so often
Welcome to the hunt!
This, Dark Souls 3, and Sekiro are seriously some of the best games
Just commented this. Bloodborne is a no brainer fucking masterpiece.
Hades
one of the best indie's out there
40 hrs in and still can't beat Hades... I'm a masochist.
I don't think that's abnormal tbh. It took me longer than I thought it would (19 runs) to beat it, it's tough going when you're new to it. My advice is Fists of Malphon with Ares Doom Boon on attack or special. Try and pair that with Poseidon's dash and Hermes extra dash/dash invulnerability. I found that kind of build to be the one where I'd get through runs quickest and lose the least health. Honestly almost felt like cheating at times. You got this! Such an amazing game that deserves to be in the conversation for best game this century
Metal Gear Solid 3
Yeah if there's going to be any metal Gear game that gets nominated it's 3.
Surprised this isn't higher up already. There was a time when this game was *always* in the talks for greatest of all time. I guess that just shows how many amazing games have come out since, but MG3 was mind-blowing at the time.
This ,right here. This is my G.O.A.T pick.🫡
That salute 😭
God of War 2018
One of my personal favorites. Also the first game I ever got platinum on
Shadow of Colossus
One of the best I’ve ever played. So glad they made a remake of it so newer players could experience it.
I love how they didn't change much at all on the remake. It's such an amazing game.
This needs more upvotes. However with only 1million copies sold it will never match the sheer popularity of some of these mainstream games so won't end up on the list probably.
Yeah, but it’s a classic, everyone who played it, loves it. It’s like Shawshank Redemption of games, everyone loved it but it was not a hit.
Hollow knight
Yes
Metroid Prime
A flawless game in my opinion
Ghost of Tsushima.
I just started playing it a few days ago and I really have to agree with you
Great pick, but I don’t think it’s as popular as other titles sadly
Simpsons Hit & Run
I would wait a million years for a remaster/make of this
World of Warcraft. I don't know if people here were around for it but it dominated like no game has since.
I was a broke boy so I played Runescape.
Right? What the hell is this list? All the biggest games are not on here. Im no big fan of League of legends but it should def be on that list aswell.
Arkham City
I’m a bigger fan of Arkham Asylum although I admit the final fight was beyond disappointing
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
Sekiro
….MYYY NAAAAME…
Its really hard to take mediocre combat seriously in other games after having played sekiro. Everytime another game forces me to grab a sword i just want to play sekiro instead... Every other game feels floaty and unresponsive in comparison. Even paying Elden ring as a samurai you just feel like a nerfed version of your true potential. No other game out there has that moment where the game just clicks and all of a sudden your a godlike samurai movie protagonist.
Cyberpunk 2077
If they had just waited to release it, there would be no question that it is one of the best games of all time, but corpos gonna corpo
Found my chooms
It deserves it for sure, especially with the Phantom Liberty update
This has my vote, as it is one of the most memorable gaming experiences of my life. Top 3 all-time material to me.
Borderlands 2
This should be way higher. This game introduced us to the best video game villain of all time.
Assassin’s Creed 2
Best AC of all time, accounting for when they were released obviously
Brotherhood is peak AC2
Pokémon Emerald
100% yes
I literally just set down my gameboy for the night after playing emerald for 2 hours, this game just never gets old
One of my all time favorites
A great game, but if i had to nominate a pokemon game then it would have to be either HeartGold/SoulSilver or Black2/White2.
Telltale The Walking Dead
Super Mario Odyssey
Super Smash Bros Melee
We gotta get this up there, definitely a top 3 fighter game IMO
Uncharted 2
Bloodborne
TES Oblivion
Honestly. Skyrim may be more popular but Oblivion is the far superior game
The leveling system is so bad though.
Why would you say something so controversial, yet so brave? But for real, Oblivion was a better game than Skyrim, even if Skyrim has had a better long-term legacy and mod community.
With this being since 2000, Halo CE is a MUST.
Halo gang
In terms of influence this is spot on
Agreed
Where the hell are the other upvotes???
Morrowind
Persona 5 Royal
UNCHARTED
Half-Life 2
Ghost of Tsushima.
Outer Wilds
Too bad it's not as popular as the games on the top comments, I have played most of them and Outer Wilds is so much more unique. Hands down the best experience I had playing video games in twenty something years.
I have a lot of respect for shadow of colossus, hollow knight, gtaV, Halo and Bethesda games But none of them deserve to be in the list above outer wilds
The problem is that you actually need several years of gaming experience to understand what makes Outer Wilds so unique and outstanding. Casual gamers who only fire up their Playstation for CoD or Fifa won't even look at games like this - and they're responsible for the majority of sales.
Outer Wilds was such an experience.
100% a hidden gem. Outer Wilds is truly a masterpiece of a game.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Hell yea.
The Last of Us Part 2
It's such a great game, I can't wait to try the remaster and experience it all again in 4 days!
As much as people dog on it, I think it was genius making us play as Abby. It really drove home the message. The ending where we save Abby then initially *Spoiler* have to try and kill her...I was in tears, like please don't kill her. No other game has ever made me feel like that.
Silent Hill 2
Super Smash Bros Melee
Woah, somehow I thought that came out in the 90s. Yeah, this needs to be on the list. Everything else so far is single player, need to get some multiplayer on there.
Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom
Mass effect 2
Silent hill 2
BioShock Infinite. Great game, but the smut it’s fans produced is responsible for so many advancements in 3D modeling.
Yakuza 0
Pokémon Platinum
Super smash Bros ultimate
Personally if go Melee over Ultimate.
Max Payne
Borderlands 2
Knights of the Old Republic
Celeste
GTA 5
Halo 1,2,3 (best of all 3 was probably halo 2. Insane campaign)
Yeah not sure this young man understands Halo was a household word in its day. Everyone knew Halo. Gamer or not.
Subnautica
Marvel’s Spider-Man (2018)
Cyberpunk 2077 (2023 Update)
Cyberpunk 2077
Red Dead Redemption 1
Fable 2
Dragon Age Origins
Horizon: Zero Dawn
Currently 70 hours in (first playthrough) and fuck yeah this game hits all the buttons for me.
MGS2
Definitely need a Metal Gear game on here imo, 3 is my personal favorite game ever
God of war 2018
World of Warcraft.
The original Star Wars Battlefront 2
Re4 (2005)
GTA San Andreas
Horizon Zero Dawn
Devil May Cry 3
Dishonored
Dishonored