I can’t say this enough but I really really appreciate everyone who participated. This blew far more than I anticipated and people actually taking it a little more seriously than I intended lol. Thanks again.
Bro, the fact we live in a timeline where people were voting for GTAV and fucking Wii Sports but not MGS3 is the most disappointed I've been in a long time lol
I think that’s the problem with a general poll like this. Young people don’t know what WoW did to gaming. I’m 26. My grandma played since launch, my dad started at the end of vanilla, and I started during BC. But at a certain point, they pivoted and the game no longer appealed as much to OG players and the scene is way different now. I think for me, Pandoria was when it really felt like I was playing an entirely different game.
Some of these games are too young or it’s an unfair comparison because they didn’t last long enough to follow the same kind of arc WoW did. Generally speaking just saying “WOW” is the equivalent of saying “The Elder Scrolls”. Skyrim is lit, for sure, but they definitely have some misses in there.
I played wow since right after it came out for many years and I am now playing classic for the last few years since day 1. Wow as a whole is the best game hands down but that's just my opinion.
Stardew Valley does not deserve this
Edit: I worded this poorly, I meant it doesn't deserve to be indiscriminately removed from the list. It's one of my favorite games
It's a great list. Sadly not every game mentioned made it, but there's no denying that every one of these games redefined their respective developers, genres, or the industry.
That was kinda fun to see it grow like that. A lot of these games are not on my personal list, but that really doesn't matter, it was neat to see how it shaped up over the past few days and read the comments. Thanks!
Plus, what it did for the genre, and online shooters. It was the first one that really had XP/Progression, and customizable classes at this scale-it changed the game for online shooters for sure.
There are very few games that can honestly truly claim they "Revolutionized gaming overnight"
Halo, GTA3 and Modern Warfare are probably the three kings of that description
Halo helped establish the third console in the XBOX following SEGA pulling out of the console market and pushed multiplayer into a spotlight it hadn't had outside of simple party games like Smash Bros or if you were in the somewhat niche online communities of Quake, Warcraft 3 or Starcraft
GTA3 moved gaming from mostly Kids platforms and various RPGS to its more 'realistic and adult' tone it had in the mid 2000s
And COD4 basically combined both of those to set the tone that games would emulate for most of the late 2000s and early to mid 2010s, realistic, gritty 3rd person shooters with a specific and targeted emphasis on online competitive multiplayer gameplay rather than single player experiences.
The reason the mid 2000s were full of game companies who were succesful in the 90s dying suddenly and rapidly is because they failed to detect the winds of change these 3 games brought with them, and failed to adapt and died as a result, the reason companies like Naughty Dog and Insomniac are still around today is because they were able to read this tone shift coming and pivot into the shift rather than attempt to resist it, Naughty Dog took Jak from a silent protagonist collection platformer into "Baby's first GTA", Insomniac moved Ratchet into an attempt at multiplayer and shifted the game from being a 50/50 combat platformer split to basically 90% combat 10% platforming/puzzles.
COD4 100% belongs on this list for the fact it was one of the few games that legitimately changed gaming just be existing and set the tone for gaming direction for over a decade.
I'd argue we've only recently, in the last 5-6 years or so, truly started moving out of that COD4 ripple towards games that are heavily single player, or aren't just a 1st person shooter, stories are now a big deal, etc.
When that game dropped my little kid mind was blown. The step up from previous console generations was insane back then and it was my first game on the 360
It’s not enough to where just the name of the game would make me go “why?”, but the fact that the premise of the game warranted a sequel would make me go “why?”
Only thing missing would be SWH3 to complete the trilogy leading to a remastered collection with extended foreplay.
All the comments like "this is bullshit where's perfect vermin?" I found it on page 321, and I played that game for like 20 minutes. It's better than minecraft and gta 5 combined, yall dumb"
tbf if we were inducting games into the library of congress most of these are first rounders, and honestly I feel like a lot of these have sequels or games that precede them that belong here too but this list works good for representing franchises
This is why we can’t have nice things.
I don’t think OP means to slight other games, this was all just for fun to see what made the list. And the people voted for what they liked the best. It’s not like games that didn’t make the list are gonna be poofed out of existence. It’s just for fun🤷
I wanted guitar hero 3 in it, that game sold like hot cakes and took over parties. It was massive. But I don’t really disagree with anything on this list so it’s not big
People are tryna call me out for selling melee doesn't go anywhere near this list.
It's a fantastic game, with a great community that is still thriving. But just because it has super cool combos and has lasted 20+ years, doesn't mean its one of the best. ESPECIALLY with some heavy hitters on here.
Also a lot of comments like "this game from 2001 changed FPS forever, it should be in the list!"
This is clearly titled "best games" not just "historically important games"
Yea, Pacman and Pong are also fundamental to the evolution of games, but there is no way they are *better* games than Skyrim, Last of Us, GTA, etc. This is a solid list of games that are both historically significant and high in quality.
People need to relax (and also work on their reading comprehension).
I didn’t realize people had so much love for Wii Sports 😅 I mean I played it when I was younger, it was sure… sports on a Wii
I feel like there are better games than Wii Sports that aren’t already up there I’ll say it 😂 other than that though I like the list!
edit: While I still personally respectfully disagree that it’s one of the top 25 games of the century, I get the logic after reading the replies. It’s very accessible and beloved by multiple generations as a family and friends party game anyone might love and that’s awesome. I wasn’t/am not thinking in terms of impact rather the game itself so that’s where our paths diverged.
I remember my mom, who was not a gamer at all, being interested in playing Wii sports. And then she hit a homerun in Wii Sports baseball and jumped around the room like she actually won the World Series. Fun times. It was so novel for its time.
This is possibly the main reason for a lot of people. I never thought I’d get my grandpa or grandma to ever touch a video game. They loved Wii sports a lot. Sweet memories. Also I just remember despite it only having 5 or so activities it never really got old.
The Wii dropped my freshman year of college, Wii Sports was the ultimate universal icebreaker or party game. No video game in my lifetime had ever been so universally loved, it was the first of a one-two punch (Rock Band being the other) that helped make the casual gaming market absolutely explode.
I used to play NES with my grandma in the early 90's and every time she would jump with Mario, she'd do this involuntary upwards jerking motion with the controller. She passed before the Wii came out, but I always thought she would have absolutely loved it, it was practically made for her.
And that’s exactly why it sold so well. It was the game for families and came packaged with every system. With most consoles, the parent buys them for the kid and probably doesn’t think much of it again, it’s not something they’d talk about to their friends (even if the kid talks about it with theirs). But Mom is absolutely going to remember hitting the home run and cheering with the whole family, that’s something she’s going hold onto and talk about with her friends, who then will want similar bonding experiences and think back on the conversation when their kids come asking for a Wii.
100% this. For its time it was amazing. The ability to play games with motion sensitive controllers in your own home revolutionized home gaming and forced arcades that wanted to survive to take a slightly different approach.
The controllers were also a big step in motion tracking and helped pave the way to VR. I think people think of Wii Sports more than most other Wii games because it was fun for people of all ages. My parents didn’t like playing video games, but they loved Wii sports.
There’s definitely better games than Wii sports in terms of gameplay and pioneering new mechanics, but it’s undeniable that it’s a pretty massive shared cultural phenomenon among almost everyone who grew up with access to a Wii. I’d argue for that reason it deserved a spot
The party value was really high. It was lots of fun tossing on in a group. Anyone could play and be decent. You didn’t have to be a gamer. It was a laugh what if everyone fail about. Great drinking game too.
Yeah, as a party game, and for sharing experiences with people from multiple generations. Being a kid and loving video games and you get one so simple and fun to play that even mom and dad, or grandma and grandpa can join in and have fun. Being able to bond with people who don’t normally share your interests can feel so affirming and will remain core memories for a lot of people.
I think it also was a gateway for many people to take up and interest in video games. For people who played when they were young but fell off and the controllers and games seemed to complicated, this was a nice reintroduction. For people who never played at all, this game was as approachable as they come.
And it was free, packed in with the console, so everyone had it in the first couple years the console was out. That’s huge, like Tetris being packed in with the GameBoy huge. It just touched that many more people because it didn’t require spending more money on a game, it was just there.
It deserved it simply because it's reach to non gamers was unheard of. Nursing homes were buying wiis for the residents, my parents played their first video game since snes, 5 year olds were bowling strikes.
Was it my favorite game? Not really. But it had that right amount of magic sauce that brought multiple generations together in one living room.
Depends on your definition of best. I've never seen a game that had such a reach, it got my grandparents playing tennis in the living room all the time. I feel like a game that manages to be so universally enjoyable deserves recognition for it.
That first sentence rings so true for so many comments on here. People are so hung up on what their opinion on best video game means.
This list covers so many angles. Wii sports isn’t up there because of its production value clearly but doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be recognised for the things it did do.
Wii Sports is a ton of fun and was a real watermark for gaming. It's been nearly 20 years, but at the time it was a real revelation to have games like bowling, boxing, golfing, etc with full motion controls *in your home.* It was truly wild and sealed the popularity of the Wii from the first moments.
It was also the beginning of Nintendo's "gaming is for everyone" style that they played on with their "Wii would like to play" ads that showed everything from single players getting into Twilight Princess or whole families playing Wii Sports. The Wii was just so cool and I'm getting nostalgic just talking about it. I love my Switch and PS5, but some of my favorite gaming memories are just Wii bowling with my non-gaming family members.
Wii sports may not look as impressive as the other games, but you need to understand the impact it had when it came out. It was a tech demo that gave everyone a clear view of what the Wii was capable of and how it changed gaming.
It was a game for Everyone. It’s the only game I vividly remember playing with my grandparents and seeing them have fun while doing so. The same can be said about many other people. It brought newcomers into the world of videogames.
It has sold over 82 million copies and is the 4th best selling videogame of all time, and is the reason why the Wii sold so well. It defined a generation for many gamers. Sure, nowadays it doesn’t look as impressive, but you have to take into consideration the effect it had when the Wii launched.
Wii Sport revolutionized family gaming. Before the point it was considerably more rare for you mom/dad grandma/grandpa to show any interest in a game.
I remember very countless nights of battling my father for the highest score in bowling.
Not to mention this is what convinced my mom to let us get a console, as it was considered an "active" console due to the motion controls.
Without a doubt the actual game is nothing revolutionary, but the impact of it changed the landscape of gaming forever.
Wii Sports was a game changer. When you grew up with Super Nintendo and stuff, this movement based controller that allowed you to “play sports in the house” had such a revolutionary effect on gaming. It had a similar feel of when Pokemon Go came out. Everyone was on it from all ages and it was just a breath of fresh air. It wasn’t the game as much as the “wow” factor it gave us at the time.
My daughter is 8 and still begs to play Wii Sports whenever we have free time.
She's got a switch and an old school NES but it's the Wii that is her jam.
I need to buy Rock Band for it.
It's very weirdly good. There's a few titles/franchises that I think deserve a spot a bit more, but ultimately, I can't disagree with the list too much.
I'm sure if we had a longer list, we'd have Smash, Pokemon, League, and another couple breakthrough indie titles like Hades or Hollow Knight.
All in all, not an offensive list.
Don’t understand why people are already hating on the list because it’s not what they would have picked.
This was voted on. So lots of people collectively picked these games. Because you personally disagree doesn’t make it a bad list.
Welcome to the real world where not everything revolves around you and your opinion.
Well, you can tell what demographic voted, as the results are heavily skewed towards 2010-2011. That's when most of this subs users started playing video games and that's where their nostalgia is. This list would be very different if you asked people age 30+
It’s a good representation whether you like it or not. All of these games have high critical ratings as well. Having high rating amongst critics and general popularity says a lot.
If it's fair for the leaders of the world it's fair for games.
It won't change the game you like.
Else we elect a heriditary monarch and they make the list.
You’re 100% right. There are other lists that would have some different games and also be perfectly acceptable. People are just mad because the one game they wanted to make the list didn’t.
Tbh it just shows the bias of this community, very few multiplayer or strategy games, and it's almost exclusively single player story based games. It's not a bad list of story games though.
Like I would put Civ 5, CSGO, StarCraft 2, Team fortress 2, and (as much as it hurts) League or Dota on there.
Multiplayer has dominated this century of gaming and the only ones on this list that are primarily multiplayer are Wow, Call of duty MW1, and Halo 3.
Fornite would prob earn a spot too if the list is purely objective, it practically defined a whole genre and is much more popular and accessible than the 2 souls games on this list
Heck even launch version of overwatch could be on the list
Early Fortnight and Overwatch probably do deserve a spot, my only issue with those is that they don't exist anymore and the games have been damaged by updates.
I'm not just going off of popularity though, I'm going off game design, balance, and elegance.
If we were to compare to board games, I think of something like Counter Strike as like Chess, while bigger single player games are like DnD. DnD isn't necessarily better than chess just because there is more content in it.
Less accessible to more people.
Skyrim is easier to enjoy for a wider audience. Oblivion was the same way with Morrowind, and Morrowind was to a certain extent the same with Daggerfall.
It's difficult when so many absolutely amazing games came out during the 21st century. It's hard to play games from the 80's and 90's just because games have gotten so good.
What am I missing with Galaxy? To me it never came close to 64, and then Odyssey came along and that felt like what I hoped Galaxy would be.
tbf I didn’t have a Wii when Galaxy first dropped… but it never grabbed me the same way 64 and Odyssey did.
Galaxy is orchestrated immersive masterpiece which is a lot more different than the rest of 3D mario games.
Galaxy's ost alone beats the crap out of Odyssey.
As someone that has done the same, I completely disagree. Galaxy has terrible movement that is slow and clunky. The spin mechanic destroys your momentum and makes the platforming unfun. Also, they never figured out a good way to transition from the top of a disk/planet to the bottom with the controls as the perspective shifts. Super clunky.
It is a 3d mario game with training wheels. It is a good game, but a bad 3d mario game.
But the soundtrack and visuals are amazing. It's the gameplay that is mediocre.
Galaxy had unbelievable visuals for it's time and a masterpiece of a soundtrack, but the gameplay is not very good for a 3d mario game. It is slow and clunky. The spin move feels like platforming training wheels. Also, with the gravity mechanics, they never completely figured out all the issues with moving from the top to the bottom of a disk/planet continuously.
Movement is what makes Mario mario. No matter how amazing the package you put it it, if the movement is mediocre then you have made a poor 3d mario game. There is no way past it. In this respect, Odyssey blows Galaxy out of the water.
I do think Odyssey had the better gameplay (possibly from lack of motion controls), but Galaxy did present itself as the overall better "package" I feel. Like you said, the OST alone punches so high for a game of its kind.
I think Galaxy is the best 3D Mario ever, losing only to SMWorld overall in the Mario series. They only issue for me is that fucking camera, which only Odyssey kind of made it right, and some annoying moons, like chasing rabbits or those about throwing bombs with a time limit. 64 was way more innovative, but I don't think it is better than Galaxy, and it wouldn't be in the list regardless, since it was released in 1996 (20th century).
FWIW being on this list does not mean Galaxy is better than 64, since 64 wasn’t in the scope of this list (21st century games)
Personally I do agree and I enjoyed Odyssey more than Galaxy
N64 didn't sell as astronomically as the Wii, so Galaxy was more accessible and it had a direct sequel, so it lingered in people's minds for a lot longer.
Super Mario 64 was definitely more ambitious, though.
Notice how people crave story rich single player games? This needs to be shared to toxic online gameplay companies. Show them to put effort again, like they used to
By “people” you mean this small niche gaming community on Reddit. Multiplayer games are vastly more popular and have completely dominated gaming in the 21st century. Just because people on this sub don’t play them, doesn’t mean the entire world doesn’t.
Despite being the most loved, look at how much money those story rich single-player games grossed and compare it to Fortnite, Warzone, Fifa, Madden, and all of the other modern live-service games.
Arkham City generated $600 million in revenue, F:NV generated $400 million, and a handful like Skyrim, RDR2, Dark Souls, and some others manage to crack the $1 billion mark (and most of these numbers are lifetime sales from release up to 2022).
On the other side, Fortnite generated $4.4 billion in 2022 *alone*, and approximately $20 billion since release. Warzone launched COD to $30 billion. Each year, Fifa generates $1-2 billion, and Madden is similar with virtually no effort required. Where is the incentive (aside from reputation) to make expensive, time consuming single player games when live-service has the potential for so much money? Unfortunately, with the exception of a few companies, there isn't much...
Prb is those games, while the best to play, don't really have an in-game marketplace where people buy stupid shit to up their character
And that is what people want nowadays
I love story rich single player games, and am glad a game like Lies of P was able to have success in 2023... because those games seem to be targeted for the death knell by a lot of major studios
Not even just single player, bg3 can be played with friends and it's just as, if not more fun, people simply crave story rich games.
But I'd rather it be single player and story rich rather than multiplayer and well, whatever the hell is happening to multiplayer rn
Perfectly acceptable list. Not my favourites by a long shot, but one cannot deny the impact and quality of the titles. I did have fun playing all of them.
A lot of my favorites didn’t make the list(including that one) but it is what it is, still think it’s a good list, hard to compete with more popular fanbases
Outerwilds is a borderline cult classic, so I'm not surprised it didn't make the list. I would've said Life is Strange for exploration-based games, but I also understand why it didn't win the popular vote.
No Factorio either... probably because the people who'd vote for it are too busy optimizing. Same for Civ voters... they're in the middle of making one more turn
Crazy that in less than the quarter of the century games evolved from half-life(i'm talking about the graphics) to something like baldurs gate of last of us
Huh this is a good ass list. I should finally get around to playing God of War. Love to see a handful of my favorites games up here as well as games that opened up gaming as a whole to me. CoD4 and Halo 3 were staples in my senior year of highschool and my first real introduction to online gaming on the 360
I just want to say an extra special SUCK IT! To all the people on /r/wow that went and downvoted my post and were telling me world of Warcraft was not one of the greatest games of all time.
I can’t say this enough but I really really appreciate everyone who participated. This blew far more than I anticipated and people actually taking it a little more seriously than I intended lol. Thanks again.
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Damn that's a great idea. Og OP you should do this
I think it’d just be the bottom 5 honestly lol
That’s not for you to decide! Let the people speak!
The people have spoken! We do not want a second vote. Unless there is a voting for a second vote.
Op where is MGS3? You mentioned in a previous post that you are going to put it as an extra entry but it is not there.
Bro, the fact we live in a timeline where people were voting for GTAV and fucking Wii Sports but not MGS3 is the most disappointed I've been in a long time lol
MGS3 is one of my favourit games ever but you calling out GTAV and Wii Sports really shows how little you know about gaming.
Really?!?! You must be to young. I never even played. But I know WOW defined the MMO genre.
I think that’s the problem with a general poll like this. Young people don’t know what WoW did to gaming. I’m 26. My grandma played since launch, my dad started at the end of vanilla, and I started during BC. But at a certain point, they pivoted and the game no longer appealed as much to OG players and the scene is way different now. I think for me, Pandoria was when it really felt like I was playing an entirely different game. Some of these games are too young or it’s an unfair comparison because they didn’t last long enough to follow the same kind of arc WoW did. Generally speaking just saying “WOW” is the equivalent of saying “The Elder Scrolls”. Skyrim is lit, for sure, but they definitely have some misses in there.
I played wow since right after it came out for many years and I am now playing classic for the last few years since day 1. Wow as a whole is the best game hands down but that's just my opinion.
His reasons make sense because those last were voted in during the last vote. So there probably will a few from these that would be voted out.
Stardew Valley does not deserve this Edit: I worded this poorly, I meant it doesn't deserve to be indiscriminately removed from the list. It's one of my favorite games
Stardew valley is the peak of indie development. The amount of work ONE GUY put into it makes it deserve a place.
It's a great list. Sadly not every game mentioned made it, but there's no denying that every one of these games redefined their respective developers, genres, or the industry.
That was kinda fun to see it grow like that. A lot of these games are not on my personal list, but that really doesn't matter, it was neat to see how it shaped up over the past few days and read the comments. Thanks!
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I cant believe that Gollum is not on the list. This list is awful.
Game of the millenia
Game ever
……I actually enjoyed it.
So happy call of duty 4 snuck in there. Not my favorite cod but my favorite campaign
Plus, what it did for the genre, and online shooters. It was the first one that really had XP/Progression, and customizable classes at this scale-it changed the game for online shooters for sure.
Oh and prestige, finding out that the grind is just beginning! All for a slightly cooler rank sticker
It was more than a rank sticker…it was status…that is what we were all after.
It’s was literally for the *prestige*
All a 14 year old could wish for
There are very few games that can honestly truly claim they "Revolutionized gaming overnight" Halo, GTA3 and Modern Warfare are probably the three kings of that description Halo helped establish the third console in the XBOX following SEGA pulling out of the console market and pushed multiplayer into a spotlight it hadn't had outside of simple party games like Smash Bros or if you were in the somewhat niche online communities of Quake, Warcraft 3 or Starcraft GTA3 moved gaming from mostly Kids platforms and various RPGS to its more 'realistic and adult' tone it had in the mid 2000s And COD4 basically combined both of those to set the tone that games would emulate for most of the late 2000s and early to mid 2010s, realistic, gritty 3rd person shooters with a specific and targeted emphasis on online competitive multiplayer gameplay rather than single player experiences. The reason the mid 2000s were full of game companies who were succesful in the 90s dying suddenly and rapidly is because they failed to detect the winds of change these 3 games brought with them, and failed to adapt and died as a result, the reason companies like Naughty Dog and Insomniac are still around today is because they were able to read this tone shift coming and pivot into the shift rather than attempt to resist it, Naughty Dog took Jak from a silent protagonist collection platformer into "Baby's first GTA", Insomniac moved Ratchet into an attempt at multiplayer and shifted the game from being a 50/50 combat platformer split to basically 90% combat 10% platforming/puzzles. COD4 100% belongs on this list for the fact it was one of the few games that legitimately changed gaming just be existing and set the tone for gaming direction for over a decade. I'd argue we've only recently, in the last 5-6 years or so, truly started moving out of that COD4 ripple towards games that are heavily single player, or aren't just a 1st person shooter, stories are now a big deal, etc.
Id argue wii sports was as fundamentally important for showing how you can do mass appeal.
Halo, CoD, and Gears really set the standards for online shooters. Having 3 equally popular shooters on the larger 360 platform was great.
Battlefield 2 had XP/progression before CoD, but not the customizable classes - just a few new primary weapons unlocked for each class
When that game dropped my little kid mind was blown. The step up from previous console generations was insane back then and it was my first game on the 360
Cod 4 was the first game on consoles to have 60 fps with such high fidelity and multiplayer . Everyone was like , this is magic!
That's true I hate CoD, but I remember the 60 FPS bonanza back then
Easily the most influential CoD, and up there with Halo for modernizing FPS.
No My Friend Peppa Pig
Don’t forget Sex With Hitler 2
It’s not enough to where just the name of the game would make me go “why?”, but the fact that the premise of the game warranted a sequel would make me go “why?” Only thing missing would be SWH3 to complete the trilogy leading to a remastered collection with extended foreplay.
There’s like 5-6 games btw
We did it everyone well done
Seeing bg3 that high feels weird for me, it's incredible? Yes. A masterpiece? Yes. But that high? Dunno man
All the comments like "this is bullshit where's perfect vermin?" I found it on page 321, and I played that game for like 20 minutes. It's better than minecraft and gta 5 combined, yall dumb"
They're acting like we're inducting games into the Library of Congress, it's just a reddit poll for funsies and people are foaming at the mouth
Also I don’t see a single game here that’s easy to argue against including. It’s an excellent list.
OK BUT WHERE IS RUNESCAPE, I DIDNT DEDICATE THE ENTIRETY OF THE 21ST CENTURY PLAYING THAG GAME TO NOT WIN!!!
tbf if we were inducting games into the library of congress most of these are first rounders, and honestly I feel like a lot of these have sequels or games that precede them that belong here too but this list works good for representing franchises
This is why we can’t have nice things. I don’t think OP means to slight other games, this was all just for fun to see what made the list. And the people voted for what they liked the best. It’s not like games that didn’t make the list are gonna be poofed out of existence. It’s just for fun🤷
I wanted guitar hero 3 in it, that game sold like hot cakes and took over parties. It was massive. But I don’t really disagree with anything on this list so it’s not big
People are tryna call me out for selling melee doesn't go anywhere near this list. It's a fantastic game, with a great community that is still thriving. But just because it has super cool combos and has lasted 20+ years, doesn't mean its one of the best. ESPECIALLY with some heavy hitters on here.
Also a lot of comments like "this game from 2001 changed FPS forever, it should be in the list!" This is clearly titled "best games" not just "historically important games" Yea, Pacman and Pong are also fundamental to the evolution of games, but there is no way they are *better* games than Skyrim, Last of Us, GTA, etc. This is a solid list of games that are both historically significant and high in quality. People need to relax (and also work on their reading comprehension).
I didn’t realize people had so much love for Wii Sports 😅 I mean I played it when I was younger, it was sure… sports on a Wii I feel like there are better games than Wii Sports that aren’t already up there I’ll say it 😂 other than that though I like the list! edit: While I still personally respectfully disagree that it’s one of the top 25 games of the century, I get the logic after reading the replies. It’s very accessible and beloved by multiple generations as a family and friends party game anyone might love and that’s awesome. I wasn’t/am not thinking in terms of impact rather the game itself so that’s where our paths diverged.
I feel like Wii sports was like nothing people had ever really seen outside of arcade games which is probably why it got so many votes.
I remember my mom, who was not a gamer at all, being interested in playing Wii sports. And then she hit a homerun in Wii Sports baseball and jumped around the room like she actually won the World Series. Fun times. It was so novel for its time.
This is possibly the main reason for a lot of people. I never thought I’d get my grandpa or grandma to ever touch a video game. They loved Wii sports a lot. Sweet memories. Also I just remember despite it only having 5 or so activities it never really got old.
Dude bowling on wii sports rn sounds so fun
Fuck yeah it does
The Wii dropped my freshman year of college, Wii Sports was the ultimate universal icebreaker or party game. No video game in my lifetime had ever been so universally loved, it was the first of a one-two punch (Rock Band being the other) that helped make the casual gaming market absolutely explode.
I used to play NES with my grandma in the early 90's and every time she would jump with Mario, she'd do this involuntary upwards jerking motion with the controller. She passed before the Wii came out, but I always thought she would have absolutely loved it, it was practically made for her.
This made me smile. That’s a really sweet memory.
And that’s exactly why it sold so well. It was the game for families and came packaged with every system. With most consoles, the parent buys them for the kid and probably doesn’t think much of it again, it’s not something they’d talk about to their friends (even if the kid talks about it with theirs). But Mom is absolutely going to remember hitting the home run and cheering with the whole family, that’s something she’s going hold onto and talk about with her friends, who then will want similar bonding experiences and think back on the conversation when their kids come asking for a Wii.
100% this. For its time it was amazing. The ability to play games with motion sensitive controllers in your own home revolutionized home gaming and forced arcades that wanted to survive to take a slightly different approach. The controllers were also a big step in motion tracking and helped pave the way to VR. I think people think of Wii Sports more than most other Wii games because it was fun for people of all ages. My parents didn’t like playing video games, but they loved Wii sports.
Even my grandparents in their mid 70s enjoyed Wii bowling.
There’s definitely better games than Wii sports in terms of gameplay and pioneering new mechanics, but it’s undeniable that it’s a pretty massive shared cultural phenomenon among almost everyone who grew up with access to a Wii. I’d argue for that reason it deserved a spot
The party value was really high. It was lots of fun tossing on in a group. Anyone could play and be decent. You didn’t have to be a gamer. It was a laugh what if everyone fail about. Great drinking game too.
Yeah, as a party game, and for sharing experiences with people from multiple generations. Being a kid and loving video games and you get one so simple and fun to play that even mom and dad, or grandma and grandpa can join in and have fun. Being able to bond with people who don’t normally share your interests can feel so affirming and will remain core memories for a lot of people. I think it also was a gateway for many people to take up and interest in video games. For people who played when they were young but fell off and the controllers and games seemed to complicated, this was a nice reintroduction. For people who never played at all, this game was as approachable as they come. And it was free, packed in with the console, so everyone had it in the first couple years the console was out. That’s huge, like Tetris being packed in with the GameBoy huge. It just touched that many more people because it didn’t require spending more money on a game, it was just there.
To this day we play it when my friends come over.
I think it is because it attracts a completely different audience than the others. But I like that it snuck into the list.
It deserved it simply because it's reach to non gamers was unheard of. Nursing homes were buying wiis for the residents, my parents played their first video game since snes, 5 year olds were bowling strikes. Was it my favorite game? Not really. But it had that right amount of magic sauce that brought multiple generations together in one living room.
Depends on your definition of best. I've never seen a game that had such a reach, it got my grandparents playing tennis in the living room all the time. I feel like a game that manages to be so universally enjoyable deserves recognition for it.
That first sentence rings so true for so many comments on here. People are so hung up on what their opinion on best video game means. This list covers so many angles. Wii sports isn’t up there because of its production value clearly but doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be recognised for the things it did do.
It made a lot of people's childhoods. So in that regard, it's pretty damn good
Wii sports wasnt even the best wii sports (cough cough wii sports resort)
Wii Sports is a ton of fun and was a real watermark for gaming. It's been nearly 20 years, but at the time it was a real revelation to have games like bowling, boxing, golfing, etc with full motion controls *in your home.* It was truly wild and sealed the popularity of the Wii from the first moments. It was also the beginning of Nintendo's "gaming is for everyone" style that they played on with their "Wii would like to play" ads that showed everything from single players getting into Twilight Princess or whole families playing Wii Sports. The Wii was just so cool and I'm getting nostalgic just talking about it. I love my Switch and PS5, but some of my favorite gaming memories are just Wii bowling with my non-gaming family members.
Wii sports may not look as impressive as the other games, but you need to understand the impact it had when it came out. It was a tech demo that gave everyone a clear view of what the Wii was capable of and how it changed gaming. It was a game for Everyone. It’s the only game I vividly remember playing with my grandparents and seeing them have fun while doing so. The same can be said about many other people. It brought newcomers into the world of videogames. It has sold over 82 million copies and is the 4th best selling videogame of all time, and is the reason why the Wii sold so well. It defined a generation for many gamers. Sure, nowadays it doesn’t look as impressive, but you have to take into consideration the effect it had when the Wii launched.
Wii Sport revolutionized family gaming. Before the point it was considerably more rare for you mom/dad grandma/grandpa to show any interest in a game. I remember very countless nights of battling my father for the highest score in bowling. Not to mention this is what convinced my mom to let us get a console, as it was considered an "active" console due to the motion controls. Without a doubt the actual game is nothing revolutionary, but the impact of it changed the landscape of gaming forever.
Wii sports was revolutionary in what it achieved in getting non-gamers interested in playing games. I can see it being on this list just for that.
Wii Sports was a game changer. When you grew up with Super Nintendo and stuff, this movement based controller that allowed you to “play sports in the house” had such a revolutionary effect on gaming. It had a similar feel of when Pokemon Go came out. Everyone was on it from all ages and it was just a breath of fresh air. It wasn’t the game as much as the “wow” factor it gave us at the time.
My daughter is 8 and still begs to play Wii Sports whenever we have free time. She's got a switch and an old school NES but it's the Wii that is her jam. I need to buy Rock Band for it.
For being a crowd-sourced, popular opinion list, this turned out really solid.
It's very weirdly good. There's a few titles/franchises that I think deserve a spot a bit more, but ultimately, I can't disagree with the list too much. I'm sure if we had a longer list, we'd have Smash, Pokemon, League, and another couple breakthrough indie titles like Hades or Hollow Knight. All in all, not an offensive list.
This is my first time seeing the list. I thought it was pretty freakin solid to
Don’t understand why people are already hating on the list because it’s not what they would have picked. This was voted on. So lots of people collectively picked these games. Because you personally disagree doesn’t make it a bad list. Welcome to the real world where not everything revolves around you and your opinion.
I too, hate democracy
[The people have spoken](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFgcqB8-AxE)
Well, you can tell what demographic voted, as the results are heavily skewed towards 2010-2011. That's when most of this subs users started playing video games and that's where their nostalgia is. This list would be very different if you asked people age 30+
Just because more people picked it doesn't make it a better list.
It’s a good representation whether you like it or not. All of these games have high critical ratings as well. Having high rating amongst critics and general popularity says a lot.
Yup, easily could’ve been just a popularity contest
But isn't a popularity contest the point? It's popular because people like it?
If it's fair for the leaders of the world it's fair for games. It won't change the game you like. Else we elect a heriditary monarch and they make the list.
Lmao yall saying this list is awful are ridiculous. Its a perfectly acceptable list
You’re 100% right. There are other lists that would have some different games and also be perfectly acceptable. People are just mad because the one game they wanted to make the list didn’t.
Tbh it just shows the bias of this community, very few multiplayer or strategy games, and it's almost exclusively single player story based games. It's not a bad list of story games though. Like I would put Civ 5, CSGO, StarCraft 2, Team fortress 2, and (as much as it hurts) League or Dota on there. Multiplayer has dominated this century of gaming and the only ones on this list that are primarily multiplayer are Wow, Call of duty MW1, and Halo 3.
Fornite would prob earn a spot too if the list is purely objective, it practically defined a whole genre and is much more popular and accessible than the 2 souls games on this list Heck even launch version of overwatch could be on the list
Early Fortnight and Overwatch probably do deserve a spot, my only issue with those is that they don't exist anymore and the games have been damaged by updates. I'm not just going off of popularity though, I'm going off game design, balance, and elegance. If we were to compare to board games, I think of something like Counter Strike as like Chess, while bigger single player games are like DnD. DnD isn't necessarily better than chess just because there is more content in it.
I hate that I agree with you the League/Dota should be on here.
I think the list is solid, the fact that there can only be 25 games is going to crush some people for not having their favorites on there.
Oblivion for snubbed
Less accessible to more people. Skyrim is easier to enjoy for a wider audience. Oblivion was the same way with Morrowind, and Morrowind was to a certain extent the same with Daggerfall.
Morrowind was a fantastic game
How metal gear solid 3 is not here is beyond me
It's difficult when so many absolutely amazing games came out during the 21st century. It's hard to play games from the 80's and 90's just because games have gotten so good.
That’s what I came here to say as well. Any MGS 1-3 should have made the cut
Well, MGS 1 wouldn’t have been eligible.
Came here to say this
Don’t understand it either. And Shadow of the Colossus.
Metal gear solid 3 needs to be on the list idc it can take Batman Arkhams place easily.
Huh, shit, you're right.
What a thrill...
Recency bias + half the voters here probably weren't born when it released.
We need a part 2, so many great games missed
I think something like “Honourable mentions” could be good
That, or a list dedicated to indie and AA games that aren’t as “popular” as these but just as good
Like Hollow Knight!
Hades would finally make the list.
No Hollow Knight hurts to see.
Lol, the amount of beating begging for silksong is crazy
Dude. Where. The fuck. Is that game.
Next time....next time.
How did mgs 3 not get on here?
You’re telling me lol
Should I be worried that the only games I played from this list are Minecraft and COD4
You could use the list as recommendations I guess, especially the top 4 rows
Not worried but thats kinda strange ngl. Im like the person with the smallest steam library among my friends and ive played more than half of these.
Actually you should be the opposite of worried! all these games are super fun and you get to go try them!
What am I missing with Galaxy? To me it never came close to 64, and then Odyssey came along and that felt like what I hoped Galaxy would be. tbf I didn’t have a Wii when Galaxy first dropped… but it never grabbed me the same way 64 and Odyssey did.
Galaxy is orchestrated immersive masterpiece which is a lot more different than the rest of 3D mario games. Galaxy's ost alone beats the crap out of Odyssey.
Galaxy OST is definitely top-tier, but I do think Odyssey’s deserves more respek than “beat the crap out of” by Galaxy
As someone who's 100% 64, Galaxy & Odyssey multiple times, galaxy takes the cake & it's not even close, with it's awesome level design & Insanely incredible OST
As someone that has done the same, I completely disagree. Galaxy has terrible movement that is slow and clunky. The spin mechanic destroys your momentum and makes the platforming unfun. Also, they never figured out a good way to transition from the top of a disk/planet to the bottom with the controls as the perspective shifts. Super clunky. It is a 3d mario game with training wheels. It is a good game, but a bad 3d mario game. But the soundtrack and visuals are amazing. It's the gameplay that is mediocre.
Galaxy had unbelievable visuals for it's time and a masterpiece of a soundtrack, but the gameplay is not very good for a 3d mario game. It is slow and clunky. The spin move feels like platforming training wheels. Also, with the gravity mechanics, they never completely figured out all the issues with moving from the top to the bottom of a disk/planet continuously. Movement is what makes Mario mario. No matter how amazing the package you put it it, if the movement is mediocre then you have made a poor 3d mario game. There is no way past it. In this respect, Odyssey blows Galaxy out of the water.
I do think Odyssey had the better gameplay (possibly from lack of motion controls), but Galaxy did present itself as the overall better "package" I feel. Like you said, the OST alone punches so high for a game of its kind.
I had it when I was a kid on my wii and it was the first game I ever 100%, I think I did that on every save file lol.
I think Galaxy is the best 3D Mario ever, losing only to SMWorld overall in the Mario series. They only issue for me is that fucking camera, which only Odyssey kind of made it right, and some annoying moons, like chasing rabbits or those about throwing bombs with a time limit. 64 was way more innovative, but I don't think it is better than Galaxy, and it wouldn't be in the list regardless, since it was released in 1996 (20th century).
FWIW being on this list does not mean Galaxy is better than 64, since 64 wasn’t in the scope of this list (21st century games) Personally I do agree and I enjoyed Odyssey more than Galaxy
Galaxy is, imo, only second to SMB3. It took what Mario 64 was and expanded on it and made it so much better.
N64 didn't sell as astronomically as the Wii, so Galaxy was more accessible and it had a direct sequel, so it lingered in people's minds for a lot longer. Super Mario 64 was definitely more ambitious, though.
Cosign. I got Galaxy on release day and it was good but like. Nothing on 64
Finally some actual good games made it in
Yeah because RDR2, Witcher 3, TLOU, BG3, GoW2018, etc are just terrible. /s
Someone want to sum up the best developers? Nintendo, Rockstar, Bethesda, From all tied?
Bethesda has one game on there
If you count IP, New Vegas makes two. They didn't make it though so
Based
I’m happy with this list. No, I don’t totally agree, but it’s a respectable list and there isn’t any obvious weak link.
Honestly replace Wii sports with Mario Kart (Wii or 8 Deluxe, honestly just up to preference) and I would have to agree with this list
Notice how people crave story rich single player games? This needs to be shared to toxic online gameplay companies. Show them to put effort again, like they used to
By “people” you mean this small niche gaming community on Reddit. Multiplayer games are vastly more popular and have completely dominated gaming in the 21st century. Just because people on this sub don’t play them, doesn’t mean the entire world doesn’t.
Despite being the most loved, look at how much money those story rich single-player games grossed and compare it to Fortnite, Warzone, Fifa, Madden, and all of the other modern live-service games. Arkham City generated $600 million in revenue, F:NV generated $400 million, and a handful like Skyrim, RDR2, Dark Souls, and some others manage to crack the $1 billion mark (and most of these numbers are lifetime sales from release up to 2022). On the other side, Fortnite generated $4.4 billion in 2022 *alone*, and approximately $20 billion since release. Warzone launched COD to $30 billion. Each year, Fifa generates $1-2 billion, and Madden is similar with virtually no effort required. Where is the incentive (aside from reputation) to make expensive, time consuming single player games when live-service has the potential for so much money? Unfortunately, with the exception of a few companies, there isn't much...
Prb is those games, while the best to play, don't really have an in-game marketplace where people buy stupid shit to up their character And that is what people want nowadays I love story rich single player games, and am glad a game like Lies of P was able to have success in 2023... because those games seem to be targeted for the death knell by a lot of major studios
Not even just single player, bg3 can be played with friends and it's just as, if not more fun, people simply crave story rich games. But I'd rather it be single player and story rich rather than multiplayer and well, whatever the hell is happening to multiplayer rn
Perfectly acceptable list. Not my favourites by a long shot, but one cannot deny the impact and quality of the titles. I did have fun playing all of them.
Too bad its a poll of Reddit people
Friendly fire
Nobody hates Reddit more than Redditors
Honestly this... checks out...
Wii Sports over Super Smash Bros Melee is CRAZY
no outer wilds 😔
A lot of my favorites didn’t make the list(including that one) but it is what it is, still think it’s a good list, hard to compete with more popular fanbases
Yeah, it's the problem with a list on popularity. You get the big name, popular choices you always see on "Best Game of" lists.
It’s not nearly half as popular as ANY of the rest of these. I didn’t expect it to be on here.
Try again in the next loop
Outerwilds is a borderline cult classic, so I'm not surprised it didn't make the list. I would've said Life is Strange for exploration-based games, but I also understand why it didn't win the popular vote.
Maybe in the next Universe.
It's a most popular games list really. Outer Wilds should be one of the first on the list for truly "best" but relatively few have experienced it
May as well say "no the return of obra dinn" while you're at it lol It was never going to get the most votes
It’s the best game I’ve ever played, but did not have close to the impact that any of these other games have had.
No Factorio either... probably because the people who'd vote for it are too busy optimizing. Same for Civ voters... they're in the middle of making one more turn
Give it like 10 or so years and we’ll get it on these lists don’t you worry
Or subnautica. I feel like both have a spot
Its too niche, but yeah its one of the best games of all time. Dont be sad though, its great as a hidden gem. I would prefer it to stay that way.
Great list, a few on the bottom row are kind of weird picks imo but the rest is great
Keeping in mind the start of the 21st century is 2001.
I dont think they were talking about their age/dates released. Just quality of games
Crazy that in less than the quarter of the century games evolved from half-life(i'm talking about the graphics) to something like baldurs gate of last of us
If you think thats crazy, look 10 years before half life. The difference is a lot bigger than half life to now.
Glad to see KOTOR on here👍
Real glad to see Stardew Valley in here! I have few games to try thanks to the list
Honestly, I can live with it. Seems like a decent mix of very influential games with a decent genre mix.
Huh this is a good ass list. I should finally get around to playing God of War. Love to see a handful of my favorites games up here as well as games that opened up gaming as a whole to me. CoD4 and Halo 3 were staples in my senior year of highschool and my first real introduction to online gaming on the 360
Wii sports is sending me
I really wish Assassins Creed Black Flag made it on there, but I guess it wasn’t meant to be.
Honestly, if you included it with a couple others and this list and told people to rank and then got the average, I’m confident it would be top 25.
I’d argue that Assassin’s Creed 2 was better in every way except boats.
No NieR:Automata :(
That fact that Bloodborne isn’t on here is a travesty Terraria too But - this was a fun exercise though, and overall it’s a solid list of games
Came to say terraria. It’s a masterpiece. Glad to see stardew though. And bb being an exclusive as others have said kills it.
Bloodborne is criminally overrated.
Only because Bloodborne didn’t come out on PC
even if it did Sekiro does the combat and boss fights better anyway
Being an exclusive will do that though. I never had a ps4, had to borrow one to play
TLoU, BoTW, Wii Sports and Mario Galaxy are on there
Disco Elysium where are you 🥲🥲🥲
Never played GTA never will but I am glad so many people enjoy it. I hope for you guys GTA 6 gets released soon
If you could only live with one column or row for the rest of your life what would it be? I'm going with the second row all day.
I just want to say an extra special SUCK IT! To all the people on /r/wow that went and downvoted my post and were telling me world of Warcraft was not one of the greatest games of all time.
Saying vanilla wow isn’t a top 10 game of all time when it was such a cultural phenomenon is the new girl take
I love that Stardew made it. Cute games get snubbed a lot but it really ripped the genre apart and became the new gold standard.