I tried to play that game, expecting perhaps a DMC-like gameplay.

Instead I got a 2D plane scroller?

Then 2D sort of platformer?

Then some weird 3D action that I did not understand at all?

What the fuck is that game.

If I enjoyed combat more, I could give it another go. But it was just not for me.

• Chrono Trigger
• Disco Elysium
• Sekiro
• Zelda Ocarina of Time
• Bioshock
• Portal
• Half Life
• Nier Automata
• Tetris

Flawed Masterpieces

• Minecraft (surprising)
• Dragon age Origins
• Team Fortress 2
• Fallout New Vegas
• Dark Souls
• Every Baldur's Gate

Masterpiece in my heart: Terraria

Super Metroid

Is disco Elysium the one with all the talking? Like multiple books worth of text? No thanks

Btw how is RDR2 not on the list?

Games I haven't seen mentioned yet:

• Fez - cute little 2D/3D platformer. It's amazing and very wholesome

• Stalker: Shadow of Chenrobyl - dunno what exactly is it, perhaps the settings and the grit, but it has a special place in my heart. It's about average FPS, but not too long and for me enjoyable

• F.E.A.R. - very good FPS, with amazingly scripted enemies, decent horror elements (not compulsory - you might miss some of them if you're not looking).

• Prince of Persia: Warrior Within - for me the best 3rd person action adventure ever. Best combat hands down (or head, or torso, you choose), streamlined blade dance at your fingertips. You play with your enemies, and you get many tools. There are some locked camera issues.

• Touhou: Lost branch of time - If you liked Slay the Spire, but wished for colorful mana, this is the game for you. It has anime artstyle, I usually focus on the cards, though it might turn some people off

• Dota 2 - Dunno if it was mentioned and I didn't see, but the mechanics are absolutely amazing, the things the game lets you get away with are incredible. 10/10, but other people might bring your experience down. Specially friends. Can play against custom (workshop) bots. Still takes too long to git gud. I studied the game for 10 years and still sucked.

• Divinity 2: Original Sin - also haven't seen a mention, everybody talks about BG3, I haven't yet played it, but D2:OS was also a masterpiece. Haven't played a lot of TRPGs, this was a blast, with easily set up multiplayer. Played through it twice completely, with many abandoned runs.

• CS 1.6 - remember that? I lost my childhood to that. They don't make counter strikes this good anymore.

• Synthetik - top-down rougelike shooter, with amazing weapons and physics and classes and enemies and mechanics and 2 person multiplayer

• Dwarf Fortress - the real objectively best game strategy simulation of the 3D box world, predecesor to both Minecraft and Terraria, but with A LOT more sand in your box. They are still extending it. And it's on Steam if you want a UI.

• Terraria (Calamity mod) - Terraria is obviously a great game, but what makes it 20/10 is the mods. Calamity specifically. Tripple the content, 5x the difficulty (20x if you try Infernum), amazing multiplayer experience. Don't install Infernum if you haven't beaten at least Revengeance on Calamity. Trust me, it will fuck you up.

• Yakuza 0 - how could I forget about this masterpiece? Story done absolutely right, that game had no business making me feel so strongly about it. Cool combat, very funny moments, but I cried during it. If you haven't tried it, check it out. You won't regret it.

• OpenTTD - Trains. Do you like to create and manage big rail systems? This is for you. And your friends. Only noobs use planes. Only psychos use boats. Nobody uses only vehicles.

I tried playing it, but the combat... the combat, man, I can play many games, finished Elden Ring, played ton of CS1.6, Dota 2, Terraria Infernum... but Sekiro I could not finish.

I've heard it's a rhytmic game, but I suck at those, too.

::: spoiler spoiler
askldjfals;jflsad;
:::

Hades

Hollow Knight

Noita

Super Metroid

Prey (2017)

DOOM (2016)

Factorio

Stardew Valley

Good list. I desperately wanted to put Dark Souls on my list, as the first blind playthrough of it was a magical experience. But I don't think it's correct, no matter how much I love it. Flawed masterpiece is about right.

I love STALKER with all my heart, and if we're talking atmosphere and vibes and even world building it is up there. But it does not really belong in the objective masterpiece category. Flawed masterpiece, maybe.

Also I think Call of Pripyat is the better STALKER game, but it might be controversial.

Disco Elysium is definitely closer to the visual novel spectrum of video games than it is to something like Tetris. But make no mistakes, its narrative and impact would be much lessened were it delivered in any other medium. It is absolutely a perfect example of how you use video games to make art.

Hard to argue with most of those. I'd put Ocarina of Time over BotW, but that's splitting hairs. Diablo 2 needs LoD included in my opinion.

God of War is an embarrassing blind spot in my gaming history. Is it actually that good?

My biggest issue is I game late at night when everyone else is in bed, so a game like that would knock me out

Yeah the souls games are something I like in spite of all of the things wrong with them. There is just so much jank and bizarre design decisions.

I kinda hate that all of the games that have tried to copy them have done so to a point of not critically evaluating everything in them. And then they have all the same flaws, but none of the unique charm that makes me look past them for FROM’s games.

God of War has two big strengths that make it a great game in my opinion. The first is the story with its great characters, presentation, and voice acting. The second is the overall "feel" of the game, which can be a bit "game-y" at times but is really tight overall with only a handful of core mechanics that are exceptionally well implemented.

Zelda: A Link to the Past

Last of Us 1 was really good. But the second one was so bad, it kind of ruined the first one for me as well. And I wouldn't call it masterpiece. Because for me a masterpiece shines in gameplay, narrative and atmosphere. The Last of Us' gameplay serves its purpose, but there's really nothing special here compared to e.g. Elden Ring, were story, atmosphere and gameplay are all pretty much perfect.

Supergiant games' holy trinity: Bastion, Transistor and Pyre.

Also, the only Borderland games 1 and 2; don't believe the lies there are no more true Borderlands games and no there most certainly is no movie.

There's also one other, but you'll need a crowbar or a gravity gun in hand for me to tell you about it.

The DS had plenty of fantastic games, but when it comes to a game I feel had the most beautiful example of using the controls in a creative way, I'd say The World Ends With You takes the cake.

I've literally never played a game that needed such a high degree of multitasking, not just for mental multitasking, but also hand-eye coordination. Playing that game on Hard mode felt crazy, and I literally never unlocked Master mode. Balancing between the top and bottom screen characters was such a challenge, especially if you're actually trying to make use of the green puck for more damage. The fact that each partner has their own battle method is fantastic too, as you never get too comfortable with one character until you finish the game.

Add in fantastic art design, catchy soundtrack, funny & memorable main cast, and you get absolute peak. I can't believe Square let that game rot for more than a decade. The Neo TWEWY sequel was pretty good too, but nothing will literally ever compare to the original's controls. It's just so addicting man.