Heres a list of some favorites:

Imperfect perfection: Morrowind

Perfect perfection: Starcraft Brood War

Objective perfection: Plants vs Zombies

Subjective perfection: Knights of the Old Republic

Perfect for its time: Gauntlet IV

Perfect timeless: Sonic 2

Perfect for its genre: LOZ Minish Cap

Perfect All-in-one: Shenmue II

MAD MAX from 2015, while not tied directly to the new movies it scratches an itch I haven’t found in any other game. It’s dark and bleak and brutal. The combat on foot and behind the wheel are both incredible. Nothing quite like being in the middle of ripping a convoy 7 new assholes and being hit with a dust storm. It can be repetitive if you want to complete everything but BY THE GODS OF VALHALLA is it a fucking blast.

For a moment I thought you were talking about the Newsmax host and I was very offended and confused, but it looks like there is another, lesser known Chris Plante in gaming journalism.

Just out of curiosity, listing the games mentioned here as of this writing by their date of release:

Left4Dead2 (also L4D1)

So the gaming equivalent of ‘chasing the dragon’? That tracks!

Just out of curiosity, listing the games mentioned here as of this writing by their date of release:

Holy shit somehow no one has mentioned:

Nier Automata

It counts as a masterpiece because of how well it blends game design, gameplay and story. I have played very few games as thoughtful, or that weaved the gameplay together into the story it was telling in such a meaningful way. I never thought once in my life that I would think philosophically about bullet hell but somehow Nier Automata has something profound to say and even manages to say it using bullet hell as a gameplay mechanic.

On top of all this, it also has a lot to say about classical philosophers, their works, and honestly deeply subverts things they had to say. It asks tough questions about their thoughts and ideas, once again, through gameplay. Numerous characters are named for classical philosophers: Pascal, Jean-Paul, Simone, Engels, Immanuel... (Yoko Taro obviously has feelings about how Jean-Paul Sartre treated Simone de Beauvoir.)

Further, Yoko Taro is doing something that a lot of game developers fail to manage to do: He is embracing gaming as a storytelling medium and eschewing the traditional three-act arc from film. Because gaming is not film. As Marshall McLuhan posited, "the medium is the message" and unlike other developers Taro's writing is aimed at the medium he is working in instead of leaning on the ropes and tropes of other mediums. (Referring back to above, tying the gameplay into the story, focusing on the medium)

It's basically impossible to not break down into tears at the ending.

Don't write it off because of the scantily clad anime women. Stay for the depth of the human condition. It is truly a masterwork in multiple respects.

2025: Clair Obscur Expedition 33.

Even if the year is not finished, this game is such a perfect work of art on so many levels that it became the new favorite to me, and to plenty other players.

A masterpiece could just refer to a piece of art from a master. It could refer to the quality of an engineering project, or the skill involved in the work's creation. Are these not objective qualities?

I don't really think the Mona Lisa is a great image, personally (it's a boring portrait), but I can still recognize that it was masterfully done.

Going to have to disagree, especially when it comes to storytelling

Just out of curiosity, listing the games mentioned here as of this writing by their date of release:

For me it's Journey. That game gave me an emotional experience I've never had in any other.

Bastion, Hades, Disco Elysium, Planescape: Torment, and Tyranny (even if the last act is rushed in the last two) come to mind for me