Feel free to list a few video games from different genres. Best is definitely subjective and I’m sure there are many “Best” games for various categories.
Half Life: Alyx for example is widely considered the “Best” VR game. Many would agree it’s the best Action VR game, but it wouldn’t be the “Best” for puzzles.
To make it easier I’ll list the types of Genres for Video Games from Wikipedia. Please do give suggestions for some of the highest quality games you’ve played from various categories:
- Action: Platform games, shooter, fighting, survival, etc
- Action-Adventure: Survival horror
- Adventure: Interactive, real time, 3d, text adventures, etc
- Puzzle: Exploration, trial and error, breakout, logical games, etc
- Role-playing: Action RPG, MMORPG, tactical, sandbox, etc
- Simulation: Management, life simulation, vehicle simulation, etc
- Strategy: Real time, turn based, wargame, grand strategy, etc
- Sports: Racing, competitive, sports games, etc
- MMO: Massively multiplayer online game
- Openworld: Sandbox, creative, open world, etc
Note: Non-exhaustive category list. There are more such as card games, board games, etc. Please check the wiki link above for more categories to get ideas for the “best” games.
I personally would recommend Subnautica (Open World), Half Life: Alyx (VR Action-Adventure), The Witcher 3 (Role-playing), Black Mesa (Action), Titanfall 2 (Action), Portal 2 (Puzzle), Battlebit (MMO/Action), and Half Life 3 (Fictional Game).
Outer Wilds
The amount of attention to detail in that game is absolutely insane.
Chrono Trigger
The story is great. The music is timeless. The replay-ability of the game is off the charts. You can change the combat style to be time-based instead of turn-based.
In terms of games that were so advanced they almost feel like they were made by time travellers:
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Elite (1984) - procedural open world space sim
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Ultima VII (1992) - full NPC schedules, open world and day/night system so you could rob stores at nights, follow people, etc. and awesome exploration. In 1992!
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X-COM (1994) - a voxel-based LOS system, destructible environment, z-levels, natural elevation on terrain (deforming the isometric grid), reaction fire, etc.
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Daggerfall (1996) - a faction system, procedurally generated areas and quests, a lot of options to get to different areas (climbing, levitation, etc.)
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Thief (1998) - a full sound simulation with different materials having different properties, the ability to extinguish torches (dynamic lighting!) and cover metal surfaces, a light system for visibility too (now commonplace).
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Baldur’s Gate (1998) - a semi open-world AD&D2e implementation - with co-op multiplayer! (most modern games don’t manage this)
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Deus Ex (2000) - a branching FPS/RPG campaign where choices matter with a basic stealth system and lots of approaches to each level. It was basically a completely modern game out of nowhere in 2000.
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Runescape (2001) - one of the first major graphical MMORPGs with a full player economy.
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Morrowind (2002) - a fully 3D open world with a lot of options for magic (including custom magic) and exploration.
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Hitman 2 (2002) - first stealth-focussed game with a full disguise system, map, etc.
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Oblivion (2006) - like Morrowind but with some NPC schedules (like Ultima VII), a stealth system (based on Thief) and Havok physics based traps.
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Red Faction: Guerrilla (2009) - fully destructible buildings and environments in an open-world campaign.
Those are the ones that really stick out (also Super Mario and Zelda on consoles, especially the SNES, N64 and recently on the Switch handheld). It’s a shame that the rate of progress seems to have slowed down a lot at least in terms of ground-breaking features and simulations.
But who knows maybe Baldur’s Gate 3 and Starfield will both be on future lists like this.
Ultima VII really sticks out as just crazy though, that game could have released 10 years later and held up.
I would actually also put KotOR on this list. It was the first game that I can think of that had branching side quests for companions and a relationship system depending on their usage. It was basically the precursor to the Mass Effect system.
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Hades is perfect.
It’s one of the few games I’ve sunk triple-digit hours into. Such a good game.
I had to stop playing it because of the faux “British” accent. It goes right through me. Feels like such a stupid thing to be put off by but it’s just so jarringly unnatural, it’s horribly off-putting.
The way he says “mate”… omg
I remember looking up who did the voice for Zagreus or whatever his name is, and the dude is clearly one of the big dicks at Supergiant. Think he played some major part in the sound design for Bastion or something. Can’t remember.
Anyway, I get the feeling he is senior enough when it comes to sound stuff that he was basically able to decide he would be the voice of the MC and then proceeded to go full Dick Van Dyke without people feeling able to criticize it.
Don’t know if it’s because I’m from the UK that I find it so uncanny and awful, or if it’s just me in particular but it’s probably the most random thing that’s ever completely ruined a (otherwise great) game for me
Superman 64 meets the criteria of all categories and is inarguably the best game ever made.
ET for the Atari walked so that Superman 64 could run. Never forget.
I’m going to take it back to the SNES days
Chrono Trigger
Earthbound
Super Mario World
Super Metroid
Megaman X
Super Mario RPG
Zelda: A Link to the Past
The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse
How do you classify best? Could a 16 bit be considered best if the mechanics and graphics are spot on? I’m thinking of Zelda ALTTP for instance. The game is just flawless in my opinion.
The Hitman trilogy has immersive world design and great replayability! One of my favourites.
Dishonored 2 is fantastic! I absolutely love everything about it. The graphics, world design, sounds, music, stealth gameplay, perks, story and etc. I’d live in Carnaca if it was possible! (I have to mention the world design again bc it is so good!!)
The level design of Dishonored 2 is also so good. So many memorable levels like the clockwork mansion. That shit was so cool and creative.
Best modern games I have played:
Action: Risk of Rain 2 (Roguelite), Hades (Roguelite), Cuphead
Action-Adventure: Alien: Isolation (Stealth/Horror)
Adventure: Subnautica
FPS: Halo 1-Reach (Story), Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Competitive)
Puzzle: Portal 2
Role-playing: Divinity: Original Sin 2
Simulation: Rimworld (Colony), Stardew Valley (Farm/Life), Squad (Military), Cities: Skylines (Builder)
Strategy: Civilization 5 (4X), FTL: Faster Than Light (Roguelite), Stellaris (4X)
Sports: Forza Horizon 4
MMO: Old School RuneScape
Openworld: Minecraft
VR: Half-Life: AlyxSome random games I enjoyed and would recommend:
Prodeus - a retro DOOM-like FPS, really captures the DOOM essence
Tomb Raider reboot: casual action-adventure games, just chill to play through
PlateUp! - a cooking roguelite management game, kinda like Overcooked (which is also a blast)
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes - one person has a bomb, the other the manual to defuse, lots of fun
Planet Coaster - a really good modernisation of the classic Roller Coaster Tycoon games
Sea of Thieves - open world PvPvE pirate adventure game, great fun with friends, wish they had progression though
Satisfactory - a factory building game, like a 3D Factorio (also good), it just needs an ending
Until You Fall - a VR sword fighting roguelite, wish they would expand on it, good fun while your arms dont hurtBioshock is the answer.
Has it aged? Yes. Is it still worth playing? Absolutely.
All the Bioshock games, in my opinion
System Shock 2.
Sekiro (RPG).
It’s not necessarily representative of RPGs as a whole, but man, I have never played a game that felt so polished. The combat is immaculate, the levels are beautiful, and more subtly, the power scaling is really well tuned. Because it’s not open world, they were able to hand tune the enemies’ difficulty more closely to match your own progression, and for me, it resulted in fights that always felt challenging but fair.
Its not an rpg
Its just an action game
Amazing combat and bosses though
Seconding this. It’s phenomenal.
I’ve never played a game that felt so challenging while still being fair all the way to the end.
I both love this game and hate that I could never beat the final boss. Even after defeating the “harder” optional stuff. My Dark Souls training is punished hard by the combat system. (I love to hate it though - just so satisfying.)
In the sports category, Rocket League is hands down the greatest game ever made. I’ve got over 3000 hours into it and I still love playing it and watching it. I don’t think you can even call other “sports” games sports compared to it, at least the ball based ones.
Half-Life was a game changer when it came out.
First-person shooters in those days were basically just spawning in a level, shooting generic bad guys and picking up loot. Half-Life had this insane story and they didn’t use any cutscenes or take away control from the player except to load the map, the whole story was told through the environment you explored and the characters you interacted with.
Even 20 years later, people are still having discussions about who the G-Man works for, or whether Dr. Breen (HL2) was a good guy.
Absolutely was.
At day 1 of release on a celery 300A overclocked to 450Mhz with SBLive EAX 3D audio played in the dark.
Remember being very impressed with the story, sound, atmosphere and AI brains increase.
What passed for AI was amazing as well. Found a sweet spot in an elevator shaft where I could patiently pick off soldiers.
“Got you dumb bots now!”
(incoming grenades)
“Well. Shit.”
They realized they were stuck, so they flushed me out! Up till then, enemies engaged on sight, suicidal, wouldn’t stop. These animals would hang back, wait for you to return.
There’s a great map, very small, like a small 2-story office building. Just you vs. the soldiers. The enemy “smarts” makes it infinitely replayable. Sometimes they really get you sweating as they coordinate against you.
All old news now, but that was amazing in the day. Also, you could play HL on about any old crap computer. Used to LAN party with my kids and his friends using junkers I’d cobbled out of spare parts. HL2 was famous for that as well. About any hardware specs at the time would at least get you in the game.
For me it’s Half Life 2 because I have such a specific and vivid memory of playing it the first time in my rainy London flat in 2004.
It was this exact moment when I had the experience, for the first time in my life, that:
I’m in this world, I am a part of the game.
Funny OP calls out Half Life: Alyx as one of the best VR games, when VR is all about being ‘immersive’.
But for me that moment 16 years earlier will always be the moment I first experienced being ‘immersed’ in a video game.
I have to go way back and vote for the Shenmu trilogy. Open world and RPG.
I agree that Half Life for action adventure.
Definitely Portal 2 and the Talos Principal for puzzle.
Rocket League is awesome and so are the Skate games.
Crazy Taxi and Paradise City belong somewhere too
OG Half Life. I should load that up again!
I recently beat Half-Life MMod and really enjoyed it. I was worried it would be too over the top, but I found it just right as something between the original and Black Mesa.
