2022 has had quite a few great video games, from the extremely challenging Elden Ring for fun and lighthearted MultiVersus, among other games. Gamers worldwide certainly have no end of video game content, from this year and in years past. With a long history spanning decades and hundreds of titles and franchises, the video game industry has made its mark in the world by providing gamers with endless hours of game content.
Many of these games are even considered masterpieces by the gaming community. These gamers recently took to Reddit to share their thoughts on which games deserve to be called a masterpiece.
10 Civilization
With the first game in the franchise released in 1991, Civilization franchise is easily one of the oldest video game franchises out there. Despite its age, it is still considered a masterpiece.
The franchise allows players to take control of a famous civilization and guide them from ancient times to powerful modern superpowers through the use of scientific advancement, expansion and outright domination. Redditor Governmentwatchlist noted, “The Civilization series taught me more about science, history, wonders of the world, and strategy than any textbook.”
9 Left 4 Dead 2
Since George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead Released decades ago, zombies have become an international craze, spawning dozens of shows, movies, and video games featuring the undead. Left 4 Dead 2 is such a game. Considered one of the best zombie survival horror games ever, Left 4 Dead 2 follows a small group of survivors trying to survive and escape from hordes of zombies.
Players can play this game alone or team up with friends to complete it. They also seem to really like the overall feel of the game. As this user points out, “L4D2 is designed much more as an experience in the world, with build-up and suspense and sometimes even characters,” making it a masterpiece in their eyes.
8 Minecraft
Reddit user nerragton writes, “Minecraft will always be the perfect game in my eyes.” Minecraft has certainly become a huge hit and millions of players still regularly visit the game, giving the game a great claim to be a masterpiece.
With open world capabilities and allowing players to build to their heart’s content, Minecraft not only captivates gamers for a long time, but it also gives nostalgic vibes for old players. As nerragton points out, “memories in that game make up about 50% of my most nostalgic childhood memories.”
7 Halo: Combat Evolved
The game that started the franchise Halo: Combat Evolved is often considered one of the best Halo games, which is not surprising considering it has some of the best levels in the Halo franchisee. The game itself was monumental to the game industry when it first came out, being one of the franchises that really started the first-person shooter craze.
Redditor Popolar also points to the game’s cinematic quality, saying, “The story mode was cinematic quality…and kept you very involved with what was going on.” Halo: Combat Evolved changed the game industry in ways that still hold up twenty years later.
6 Mass effect
Mass effect at first glance, it looks like another space-based game franchise. But once the game starts, it quickly embarks on a wild adventure where every choice the player makes could have huge consequences in the future.
What makes the Mass effect trilogy is so unique that actions taken by the player in one game can greatly influence the rest of the series. But this is what makes the experience so unique. As SimoneNonvelodico points out, “I was really surprised by how much the story continued to depend on my choices as we went along. It really felt like it was ‘my’ story.” Giving players the chance to add to the story along the way makes this franchise a unique playthrough every time.
5 Super Metroid
It might be one of the older games out there, but Super Metroid is still considered a great game by many players around the world. SirBlackMage highly praises this game for its “beautiful 16-bit graphics, atmospheric soundtrack, (mostly) intuitive level design, and a great story that doesn’t rely on lengthy expositions.”
All these things are hallmarks of great games, so combined they make for a masterpiece that has stood the test of time. Platform game fans will definitely want to check out this fan-favorite game.
Offering a more stealth/infiltration-style game than a shoot-em-up game, Metal Gear Solid is another game that launched an entire franchise around the main character Solid Snake. What a lot of people seem to agree on is how innovative the game was, considering it was released in 1998.
Redditor Beardiest points this out by saying, “The cutscenes, voice acting, music, stealth mechanics, level design, boss fights and all the little hidden Easter Eggs are ridiculous for a game of that generation.” In fact, some of the Easter eggs in the game are considered some of the biggest Easter eggs in video games.
3 Chrono trigger
Another old fashioned game that fans still love, Chrono trigger features plenty of time travel and lovable characters that still hold up over twenty years later.
Like the Mass effect trilogy, Chrono triggerThe gameplay of the game includes a mechanism where your actions in the past can affect what happens in the future, which has even more consequences here due to the time travel nature of the game. But fans still point to the characters and story as highlights. y_would_i_do_this writes: “No storyline is without value, they are all developed at a perfect pace and culminate in a completely satisfying way.”
2 Subnautics
Hailed as one of the best horror games set in the ocean, Subnautics deserves its place as a masterpiece game because of the presentation of the story and the score. The music is scored in a way that evokes feelings of fear and anxiety in the gamer.
As for the story, Redditor Witch_King_ puts it best, saying, “The way the story is presented to you so that you’re in it rather than just seeing it around you? Masterful.” Obviously, gamers prefer games that make them feel like they’re part of the story, like in Subnautics rather than observing the story from the outside.
1 Outer Wilderness
Outer Wilderness seemed huge in size when it came out, but despite the expansive story, everything fitted together really well, leading some avid gamers to label it a masterpiece.
waklow points this out best by writing, “Everything hangs together to tell a fantastic story that takes full advantage of the video game medium. It really is a miracle that it gives you so much freedom while still taking you from clue to clue.” and story piece while keeping it all coherent and gripping.” To do this with a game like Outer Wilderness really makes it worthy of being called a masterpiece.
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