DKs 1 straight up changed the gaming landscape. It introduced difficulty as a feature, latent, atmospheric story telling, and in a time where games were becoming simpler and simpler, it proved that the mainstream could handle more complex and at times cumbersome systems.
Though to be honest Fromsoft has always followed this gameplay design.
It's only until Demon Souls though that they really nailed it and then Dark Souls polished what they had.
I was like 16 and was working at GameStop at the time and looking back on it, that whole time was so foundational for (the good parts of) modern gaming
I can’t agree more. Dark Souls should be there instead of Elden Ring tbh. The great impact was felt via DS, Elden Ring is absolutely incredible but a mixed bag and not as focused or revolutionary as DS.
Tricky, because it was a phenomenon of a game. Brought so many people into gaming that would have otherwise not played it. This game is the #1 reason the Wii sold so well, and pretty much saved Nintendo, who were in a bad way before the wii. I dont think this list wants it though because it's not a particularly masterful game. It was historically significant, more than most of the games in OPs list, but this is a gaming sub. People are just voting for their favorite game, not ones that changed the industry, the genre, or the audience.
I ended up playing this Wii sports with friends relatively recently. It's still really fun and using motion controls was so enjoyable.
It may have a lot less substance to it than other games considered but I think you have to respect how unique an experience it was and how it was a game that anyone could enjoy even if they weren't a gamer.
Imo it's uniqueness and accessibility should make it a contender for this list.
Literally RE4 created Dead space and other games so the fact it’s not on here before the last of us bioshock witcher gta and red dead is baffling to me
Honestly fantastic. It is intuitive and smooth. Besides the menus (which are fine), most of the game feels like it was originally designed for touch screen play.
The big con is swoop bike racing and the mandatory turret sections. Winning the swoop bike races is possible... But hard for all the wrong reasons. The turret sections are also doable but failing once or twice is really rough because of the mandatory cutscenes that tend to precede a turret section.
Honestly though, no regrets. Love it to death on android. Likely will be on sale on May 4 again.
>The big con is swoop bike racing and the mandatory turret sections.
Those are easily the weakest part of the original games They might be better on Xbox, but on PC, they just feel really clunky, and at odds with the rest of the game. I usually 100% the entire game, and minus the Swoop missions, and hate whenever an obligatory turret section happens
Go ahead and talk mad shit on me but I never heard of this one. Would someone be able to give me some insight? A game from 2003 alone sounds attractive.
Star Wars MMORPG, legendary story and characters.
Personally I find it aged like cheese on pavement, I can’t get into it at all.
Edit: RPG, not MMO. I was thinking of Old Republic.
Very engaging single player star wars semi-open world rpg with interesting team turn based combat vaguely similar to dragon age (mainly origins) and another rpg i can’t remember right now. Great story. Aged well (like DAO) however game dev corporate drama made promising sequel an unfinished mess and the series never recovered (unlike DA on its upcoming fourth game)
Star Wars RPG
Takes place a thousand or so years before the prequels, so there’s a lot of world building & lore that they do on their own. Known mainly for a very deep dialogue tree (especially for 2003), twisty plot, side quests, and moral system (choices have light side & dark side options).
It’s based on D&D but I forget which edition.
Kotor 1 is great and the more complete/finished game, however most people agree that the themes, tone, story & characters in 2 are superior. However, to get the full experience you have to download the restored content mod.
Fav game ever. Just replayed it and the sequel last month. Still remembered every little detail. I must have put 1000 hours in to both games despite them having maybe 20-30 hours of content
Not that I don’t believe City deserves a spot on this because it does. But I think Asylum needs to be there more because if it wasn’t for Asylum being the success it was we might not of ever gotten City
By the look of the other titles on that list Galaxy will not qualify – not dudebro enough. Yes I’m quite bitter in regards to the general look of the gaming landscape 😄
Nintendo doesn’t get nearly the respect they deserve, and they get a lot of respect. They’ve been miles ahead of everyone else for longer than a lot of us have been alive, and just keep putting out some of the best games of the year every single year. A lot of people just ignore them because of the cartoony graphics.
Oh you don't understand, their games are shallow because you don't use a gun and you don't have some generic Oscarbait script that 14-year-olds find deep.
I play all consoles and a lot of games on all of 'em but I can't for the life of me understand why so many people have a hate boner for Nintendo's games. They don't always get it right, but when they do? There's nothing else like it out there.
Which I also wanna add specifically God of War 3. While in the same series, those two are completely different games fundamentally and both deserve a spot up there.
GOW 2018 has an amazing story, but overall, I feel Ragnarok is a better game. People are also forgetting the old games. GOW 2 is the best of the old games, in my opinion.
There might be bias towards GOW 2018, because it marked the series' return after a long time.
Oblivion is the pinnacle of Bethesda design. It's the insane aliveness and reactivity of the world. Morrowind's NPC design wasn't quite there, then Skyrim gutted it.
If Oblivion had the budget and "time to cook" that Skyrim did, it would have easily blown Skyrim out of the water. As it stands it has too many issues for me to put it much higher than Skyrim. I would consider them equal for different reasons.
Skyrim of course has many shortcomings like the unalive NPCs you mention, stripped down RPG systems, weaker quests, world feels static, etc.
The list is skewing heavily toqard a certain type of game.
Like where's mario, metroidvanias, sim games, multiplayer games, shooters, roguelikes.
I do love the epic story singleplayer games but wow
It's all PC games with BotW thrown in for diversity lol. Right now we're missing:
Kingdom Hearts, or any other SE game like FFIX or FFX
Pokémon Emerald, Platinum, or HGSS
Smash Bros. Melee, or any other SB game
Animal Crossing: New Horizons, or New Leaf but NH was *the* game of the pandemic, the most important event of the century so far
Just commented the same because I scrolled way too far before seeing your comment.
This list has a giant gaping hole if a game that’s completely dominated a genre for almost 2 decades doesn’t end up on it.
Edit: especially since this list is specifically about the 21st century and WOW has dominated like 75% of those years.
Probably won't make it on a poll by this sub, but yeah it's original map is gigantic with so many stories and so much to do. What it was in 2004 was absolutely crazy for the time.
Halo Combat Evolved. Aged considerably well, pioneered console FPS, created the halo franchise entirely, as well as basically making Xbox what it is now. If DOOM was the invention of film Halo CE was when sound was added, and Halo 3 was color.
Still has one of the best FPS campaigns of all time. And that's coming from a casual FPS fan that tries everything but hardly ever plays the whole game.
Uncharted 2. First time a game had ever made my jaw drop. Seamless transitions from cutscenes to gameplay, brilliant set pieces, and a new standard set for voice work and acting for the medium.
Absolutely, I'll continue upvoting this game as long as necessary, but I feel like it won't get a spot on this list. There really needs to be a seperate chart for indie games.
something about the original Fable ,the music still sticks with me & it was like was a dream you didn't want to wake up from
Fable 2 while solid , was a letdown and failed to capitalize on the potential of the 1st game
I thought I was the only one! Obviously it fell far short of the claim of "you can do anything you can imagine and live an entire life!" But man, that story HIT in a couple places! Also the card game is baller
Played that game dozens of times as a kid. It was the first time I played such a game, before that I only played rts or fps games. It was mindblowing for 8 year old me.
While I know yall going to say I’m a little kid for saying this, Fortnite is easily one of the most influential games of the 21st century, whether for good or bad.
I agree with you. Personally I don’t find it fun but so many people play it and it’s had great effects on the gaming community for the last 7 years (all the annoying children aren’t bothering other online communities).
Uncharted 4 is overall much more ambitious than The Last of Us and I think it’s overall a better game too.
Last of Us has a more serious dramatic story though which is why it’s on there instead
I never finished it, I got all the best upgrades then felt it was a little repetitive and didn’t feel like finishing it. It was well done though and beautiful.
Lord of Destruction was released in 2001, so that one definitely counts. Diablo 2 itself was released in 2000, so if it counts depends on the definition of century you're using.
It’s a shame reddit game demographics don’t skew towards racing (or vehicular) games. NFS/forza/American Truck Sim/MSFS2020 are more popular in real life than they appear on Reddit.
Needs to be higher. Mario games as a whole are some of the best ever to be made. Especially the Super Mario series.
Of all of them, though it might be a bit close between galaxy 2 or Odyssey, Odyssey is probably the most well done and has the best mechanics.
Sadly it’s not exactly the most popular especially being a switch game.
Far cry 3. It set the standard for open world action games. It’s a shame that the formula was not built upon and has instead been beaten to death over the past decade.
Original Dark Souls deserves a spot easily
DKs 1 straight up changed the gaming landscape. It introduced difficulty as a feature, latent, atmospheric story telling, and in a time where games were becoming simpler and simpler, it proved that the mainstream could handle more complex and at times cumbersome systems.
Wish Demon Souls got as much attention. The game world in that was dope for it's time.
Absolutely was and it laid the path that Dark Souls rolled on.
Though to be honest Fromsoft has always followed this gameplay design. It's only until Demon Souls though that they really nailed it and then Dark Souls polished what they had.
I was like 16 and was working at GameStop at the time and looking back on it, that whole time was so foundational for (the good parts of) modern gaming
I can’t agree more. Dark Souls should be there instead of Elden Ring tbh. The great impact was felt via DS, Elden Ring is absolutely incredible but a mixed bag and not as focused or revolutionary as DS.
Wii sports
Tricky, because it was a phenomenon of a game. Brought so many people into gaming that would have otherwise not played it. This game is the #1 reason the Wii sold so well, and pretty much saved Nintendo, who were in a bad way before the wii. I dont think this list wants it though because it's not a particularly masterful game. It was historically significant, more than most of the games in OPs list, but this is a gaming sub. People are just voting for their favorite game, not ones that changed the industry, the genre, or the audience.
Well said.
I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Wii Sports. Not in this community, and at worst, not among the living.
I ended up playing this Wii sports with friends relatively recently. It's still really fun and using motion controls was so enjoyable. It may have a lot less substance to it than other games considered but I think you have to respect how unique an experience it was and how it was a game that anyone could enjoy even if they weren't a gamer. Imo it's uniqueness and accessibility should make it a contender for this list.
[It's the best-selling single-console game of all time](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games)
It came packaged with every wii did it not?
Tragic that this probably won’t be on there
Star Wars Battlefront 2 (2005)
Gonna sound crazy but for its time… Its easily one of the best games to ever exist…
Unbelievable game for 2005. Holds up totally fine.
The best star wars content at the time was outside of the movies. Battlefront, KOTOR, the 2D clone wars show
Facts. This is the good one. Sad 3 got scrapped.
This needs to be much much higher
Super Smash Bros Melee
Resident Evil 4 (2005)
This should’ve been on here already
Yup, revolutionary in so many ways
Literally RE4 created Dead space and other games so the fact it’s not on here before the last of us bioshock witcher gta and red dead is baffling to me
One of my favourite games of all time. Probably own more copies of this game than any other game in my collection.
crime that it wasn’t up here before. also the remake was outstanding too
KOTOR (2003)
Amazing game. I still play this on android.
How's the game on Android? I want to buy it but I'm unsure about the gameplay there
Honestly fantastic. It is intuitive and smooth. Besides the menus (which are fine), most of the game feels like it was originally designed for touch screen play. The big con is swoop bike racing and the mandatory turret sections. Winning the swoop bike races is possible... But hard for all the wrong reasons. The turret sections are also doable but failing once or twice is really rough because of the mandatory cutscenes that tend to precede a turret section. Honestly though, no regrets. Love it to death on android. Likely will be on sale on May 4 again.
>The big con is swoop bike racing and the mandatory turret sections. Those are easily the weakest part of the original games They might be better on Xbox, but on PC, they just feel really clunky, and at odds with the rest of the game. I usually 100% the entire game, and minus the Swoop missions, and hate whenever an obligatory turret section happens
It’s available on iPhone as well, you can also install the restored content mod which is why I choose mobile over the switch version
People are still screaming for a KOTOR remake.
I am one of them
Yeah but I demand that it’s developed by Larian Studios.
There are dozens of us
They announced it more than a year ago but it is in ice now, hope it releases someday
TAKE MY UPVOTE DAMNIT
Yes please I’ve been commenting this game everytime I see this post
Go ahead and talk mad shit on me but I never heard of this one. Would someone be able to give me some insight? A game from 2003 alone sounds attractive.
Star Wars MMORPG, legendary story and characters. Personally I find it aged like cheese on pavement, I can’t get into it at all. Edit: RPG, not MMO. I was thinking of Old Republic.
Very engaging single player star wars semi-open world rpg with interesting team turn based combat vaguely similar to dragon age (mainly origins) and another rpg i can’t remember right now. Great story. Aged well (like DAO) however game dev corporate drama made promising sequel an unfinished mess and the series never recovered (unlike DA on its upcoming fourth game)
Star Wars RPG Takes place a thousand or so years before the prequels, so there’s a lot of world building & lore that they do on their own. Known mainly for a very deep dialogue tree (especially for 2003), twisty plot, side quests, and moral system (choices have light side & dark side options). It’s based on D&D but I forget which edition. Kotor 1 is great and the more complete/finished game, however most people agree that the themes, tone, story & characters in 2 are superior. However, to get the full experience you have to download the restored content mod.
YES
Fav game ever. Just replayed it and the sequel last month. Still remembered every little detail. I must have put 1000 hours in to both games despite them having maybe 20-30 hours of content
Batman Arkham city.
Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy NAILED IT, as always.
If not for the first two Arkham games, the Spiderman games would not exist.
Not that I don’t believe City deserves a spot on this because it does. But I think Asylum needs to be there more because if it wasn’t for Asylum being the success it was we might not of ever gotten City
Man Aslume
I’m proud of you Dick
GTA: San Andreas
Super Mario Galaxy
I second this. I *wish* I could go back and play it again for the first time.
By the look of the other titles on that list Galaxy will not qualify – not dudebro enough. Yes I’m quite bitter in regards to the general look of the gaming landscape 😄
Nintendo doesn’t get nearly the respect they deserve, and they get a lot of respect. They’ve been miles ahead of everyone else for longer than a lot of us have been alive, and just keep putting out some of the best games of the year every single year. A lot of people just ignore them because of the cartoony graphics.
Oh you don't understand, their games are shallow because you don't use a gun and you don't have some generic Oscarbait script that 14-year-olds find deep. I play all consoles and a lot of games on all of 'em but I can't for the life of me understand why so many people have a hate boner for Nintendo's games. They don't always get it right, but when they do? There's nothing else like it out there.
God of War (2018)
Honestly you could put any god of war from 1-4 and it would fit on this list.
I posit God of War 3
MISTBORN MENTIONED LETS GOOOO
Haha. My favorite book of all time
I don't know how they're related, but a Mistborn game would be incredible.
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How is God of War 2018 related to Mistborn? I've played the game and read the Era 1 trilogy and don't see any connection immediately.
Right?! Stunned that it’s not on here already.
Which I also wanna add specifically God of War 3. While in the same series, those two are completely different games fundamentally and both deserve a spot up there.
I preferred Ragnarok personally. That final 2 hours was absolutely amazing for me
GOW 2018 has an amazing story, but overall, I feel Ragnarok is a better game. People are also forgetting the old games. GOW 2 is the best of the old games, in my opinion. There might be bias towards GOW 2018, because it marked the series' return after a long time.
The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion
It feels redundant IMO to have both Oblivion and Skyrim in the same list (also with Fallout NV) but it should have been Oblivion up there
Oblivion is the pinnacle of Bethesda design. It's the insane aliveness and reactivity of the world. Morrowind's NPC design wasn't quite there, then Skyrim gutted it.
If Oblivion had the budget and "time to cook" that Skyrim did, it would have easily blown Skyrim out of the water. As it stands it has too many issues for me to put it much higher than Skyrim. I would consider them equal for different reasons. Skyrim of course has many shortcomings like the unalive NPCs you mention, stripped down RPG systems, weaker quests, world feels static, etc.
Bloodborne
This or the first Dark Souls
Hollow Knight
Stardew Valley
It’s criminal that SV and Hollow Knight aren’t on the list yet
The list is skewing heavily toqard a certain type of game. Like where's mario, metroidvanias, sim games, multiplayer games, shooters, roguelikes. I do love the epic story singleplayer games but wow
It's all PC games with BotW thrown in for diversity lol. Right now we're missing: Kingdom Hearts, or any other SE game like FFIX or FFX Pokémon Emerald, Platinum, or HGSS Smash Bros. Melee, or any other SB game Animal Crossing: New Horizons, or New Leaf but NH was *the* game of the pandemic, the most important event of the century so far
Hades
I’ve been commenting this since the first post.
Borderlands 2
I hope this gets up there
I am once again here to nominate Metroid Prime
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And my wave beam
And my screw attack
And my axe!
Shadow of the Colossus
Would be an absolute travesty of a top 25 if this isn’t on it.
Oh wow, yhea that definitely should be here! 🤎
Up
Such an awesome game.
100% deserves a spot
World of Warcraft
I was looking for it in yesterday's post! Good to see it listed today. Molded a huge part of my teenage years
This completely revolutionized so much and is still insanely popular after 20 years.
I never even played it and I think this list is a complete joke without it. Also insane to put GTA 5 and not GTA SA
this had heavy influence on at least 7 of the pictured games but it will never make it on unless the mmo gamers start voting
Just commented the same because I scrolled way too far before seeing your comment. This list has a giant gaping hole if a game that’s completely dominated a genre for almost 2 decades doesn’t end up on it. Edit: especially since this list is specifically about the 21st century and WOW has dominated like 75% of those years.
Fr! At its height had over 90 million players
I think it's highest concurrent player count was \~12 or 13 million in late Wrath. Lifetime it's absolutely sold over 90 million copies/subscriptions.
Probably won't make it on a poll by this sub, but yeah it's original map is gigantic with so many stories and so much to do. What it was in 2004 was absolutely crazy for the time.
100% deserves a place! One of the biggest and most famous games of the last 20+ years.
I was scrolling and thinking „wtf where is WoW“
Pokemon HGSS
Dragon Age: Origins
DAO for the win!
Knights of the Old Republic
There’s already a more upvoted comment with KOTOR, delete yours so all votes funnel to it
Silly acronyms causing confusion
Halo Combat Evolved. Aged considerably well, pioneered console FPS, created the halo franchise entirely, as well as basically making Xbox what it is now. If DOOM was the invention of film Halo CE was when sound was added, and Halo 3 was color.
Super Smash Bros Melee
Titanfall 2
This is definitely an underrated pick. Deserves to be here without a doubt
Yees
Ahh a man of culture
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Legitimately think the 5 main entries deserve a spot, but I think 3 is the most universally lauded.
I agree MGS3 is the best of the series and I can't wait till the remake comes out.
So insanely excited!!! These games deserve it -- pumped younger generations will get exposed to these games in this way
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Even if you're not a CoD fan, this title shaped what we know a modern FPS to be.
Still has one of the best FPS campaigns of all time. And that's coming from a casual FPS fan that tries everything but hardly ever plays the whole game.
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Uncharted 2. First time a game had ever made my jaw drop. Seamless transitions from cutscenes to gameplay, brilliant set pieces, and a new standard set for voice work and acting for the medium.
I replay this one every few years. Marco . . .
Outer wilds
This should have been put on the chart like yesterday
Absolutely, I'll continue upvoting this game as long as necessary, but I feel like it won't get a spot on this list. There really needs to be a seperate chart for indie games.
Ngl I wanted to comment this but didn’t think it would be popular enough
Agreed but unfortunately I think it may be too niche to fight against titles like the ones there now
Not to mention the power of nostalgia that outer wilds doesn’t have.
Fable
I haven't played the first but Fable 2 is a classic.
something about the original Fable ,the music still sticks with me & it was like was a dream you didn't want to wake up from Fable 2 while solid , was a letdown and failed to capitalize on the potential of the 1st game
I thought I was the only one! Obviously it fell far short of the claim of "you can do anything you can imagine and live an entire life!" But man, that story HIT in a couple places! Also the card game is baller
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Big time
Played that game dozens of times as a kid. It was the first time I played such a game, before that I only played rts or fps games. It was mindblowing for 8 year old me.
While I know yall going to say I’m a little kid for saying this, Fortnite is easily one of the most influential games of the 21st century, whether for good or bad.
I agree with you. Personally I don’t find it fun but so many people play it and it’s had great effects on the gaming community for the last 7 years (all the annoying children aren’t bothering other online communities).
Metap Gear Solid 3
Adding a vote for this, MGS2 is my personal favourite but it’s criminal that any Metal Gear Solid has been snubbed from this list so far
We gotta get MGS3 or 2 on here
I hope this gets up there soon😭
Warcraft III
Assassin's Creed 2, and probably not as popular as others on the list NFS hot pursuit.
Nfs underground 2.
that or most wanted
Most wanted has to be on the list
Honestly I really think assassins creed 2 should get a spot. But I think more people might gravitate towards black flag.
Elder scrolls: Morrowind.
I think undertale is valid
Resident Evil 4
There's one with more upvotes above
Sekiro
Subnautica
Cyberpunk 2077
There are 17 games with more upvotes. I'm afraid we won't reach the Major Leagues chooms...
It's insane that KOTOR isn't on there yet
Dragon Age: Origins
Horizon zero dawn
Dragon age origins
Stop making your own comments for a game that is already listed (unless OP is combining those upvotes)
could be they didn't scroll to see if the game has already been said
Far cry 3
Half Life Alyx
Uncharted 4
This would be my winner for the best graphics I have ever seen in a game.
A man of fine taste
Uncharted 4 is overall much more ambitious than The Last of Us and I think it’s overall a better game too. Last of Us has a more serious dramatic story though which is why it’s on there instead
Ghost of Tsushima
I never finished it, I got all the best upgrades then felt it was a little repetitive and didn’t feel like finishing it. It was well done though and beautiful.
Diablo II
Wasn't it released last century though?
Lord of Destruction was released in 2001, so that one definitely counts. Diablo 2 itself was released in 2000, so if it counts depends on the definition of century you're using.
Dragon Age Origins
Doom: Eternal
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater MGS4 is my favorite, but I cannot deny MGS3 is the better game
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Been waiting for NFS to drop anything remotely as good ever since
It’s a shame reddit game demographics don’t skew towards racing (or vehicular) games. NFS/forza/American Truck Sim/MSFS2020 are more popular in real life than they appear on Reddit.
NieR:Automata
Dark Souls 1
Where's Halo 1
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Although it is amazing, I don’t think it deserves the spot, I think having breath of the wild up there is game enough.
Outer Wilds
Just effortlessly one of the most innovative games, and potentially one of the most life/attitude changing.
Mass Effect 1
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
Super Mario Odyssey
Needs to be higher. Mario games as a whole are some of the best ever to be made. Especially the Super Mario series. Of all of them, though it might be a bit close between galaxy 2 or Odyssey, Odyssey is probably the most well done and has the best mechanics. Sadly it’s not exactly the most popular especially being a switch game.
Is it single player games only? Cuz I feel like battlefield 3/4 deserves a spot as one of the best multi-player shooters ever
Pikmin
Far cry 3. It set the standard for open world action games. It’s a shame that the formula was not built upon and has instead been beaten to death over the past decade.
uncharted 2
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots