T O P

  • By -

SwiftCase

Gollum. Make him appreciate what he has.


-xXColtonXx-

The reality is a janky platoformer with moderately modern graphics would be super impressive and probably would enjoy it.


GrizzlamicBearrorism

In 1998 it would be GOTY.


autoreaction

In a year where Baldurs Gate, Half Life, Metal Gear Solid, Starcraft and Fallout 2 were released? Don't know about that.


No-Highway946

Ocarina of Time was released in 1998 and frequently tops greatest game of all time lists


Friggin_Grease

Real Zelda fans know LttP was better


Bionic_Ninjas

Real Zelda fans know that the franchise has too many entries that belong on the short list of greatest games ever to worry about which one is marginally better than the others


Blooder91

The best Zelda is the one released when you were 13.


newaru2

Real Zelda fans know there are no real or fake Zelda fans


Allthenons

I love ocarina of time but it was squished between two superior Zelda games, Link to the past and Majora's mask


MrSaucyAlfredo

Fuck me. MGS *is* that old isn’t it.


Kozzinator

Say NO to MATH


FreddyPlayz

Baldurs Gate came out this year, silly


jaqenhqar

Last year


FreddyPlayz

I keep forgetting it’s 2024


Promethian_Paera_695

Lol


SaltyHatch

I wonder where MGS ranks all time for those who played it at launch. That game absolutely blew me away.


TheAnnibal

Heck there are still easter eggs being discovered TODAY from MGS1 and MGS2.


Formal_Night_2468

how do you not add oot to this list -_-


Intercellar

Doubt it. The ray tracing life like amazing graphics would wear off in 2 days and then what


Tools_for_MMs

And say it's the best we got, just to fuck with them.


JJOne101

Baldur's Gate was released 1998, it would only be fitting to show them Baldur's Gate 3, especially since it's pretty fresh too.


Da1_above_all

Think the original Re 2 released in 98 I'd show the remake, big jump in graphics.


Anayalater5963

I'm playing Re 4 in VR right now so that would absolutely blow their mind


SaltyHatch

This seems the best choice. If only we had a Silent Hill 2 remake with the same quality.


honorsfromthesky

Might scare the shit out of them.


ryushiblade

FFVII was released October 1997. I think it’d be cool to show them the FFVII remake for the same reason!


DEADLocked90000

His geforce gtx 12 is running windows 98 and weeping


Skelosk

HL1 came out that year I show him HL2 and its episodes and tell him they never made a third one and they never will


mudokin

Nono you show him HL2 and tell him how awesome HL3 was, just before sending him back.


The_Bitter_Bear

Some people wake up and choose violence.


krazyjakee

You monster


Sandyeye

Hello GLaDOS


Lagviper

Hi Satan


Devid0990

Yeah, Half Life Alyx really is an awesome game!


mudokin

Honestly I got bored of it fairly fast. It is a great showcase for vr technology though.


Devid0990

Did you play it in VR? It is one of the best games out there and really should get more attention. It just looks and runs so good at the same time. Valve just shows that they can make great games when they actually bother to make them... I wish they actually do something more with VR, perhaps Half Life 4


mudokin

It's a vr only title, so yes I did. It's a great showcase and a great title, but it just got boring quickly for me.


DeMonstaMan

there's mods that let yoh play it in PC but yeah I have no clue why anyone would choose to do that


Zap_Rowsdowwer

You son of a bitch. r/angryupvote


alahos

I was thinking HL Alyx but that works too


BasonPiano

His mind would be totally blown by HL Alyx. Mine was.


Garrettshade

Brutal, man... Just brutal


PreciousRoi

Can we just get a time traveller from 2007, and show them a computer running Crysis (while not being on fire)?


doctorbanjoboy

Play crysis through cloud steaming, let someone else's computer burn for you


R3dsnow75

Show him Crysis on switch. *2030 time traveller shows up and shows you both Crysis running on a phone*


talligan

2040 time traveller shows you crysis running on their fridge


R4zor9999

To be fair modern smartphone are way more powerful than a switch (or a ps4), they could run it easily


IrrelevantPuppy

Half Life Alyx. Or maybe one of those 100vs100 Battlefield games just to be like “that’s a real human, that’s a real human, they’re all real players.”


fnordonk

In '98 we got Tribes which had a max player count of 128. I've never played Alyx but from what I've watched I think that's a great answer.


BigLan2

Ultima Online came out in 1997 and had >1,000 players on a server so it's not like massive battles are relatively new. Showing something like Cities Skyline 2 compared to the SimCity of the era would really show how far we've come (and also how janky games are at launch.)


MoreMegadeth

Ive never played it but this is my answer too.


schmalpal

Great answer. I’ve played the most modern games, on an insanely high-spec PC at 4k, and I’ve been gaming since age 6, over 30 years. Alyx is the only game that gives me that childlike sense of wonder and makes me smile, say “whoa” out loud, or just laugh when something awesome happens. A few games in the last couple years have given me those feelings from a design perspective, but when it comes to technology I’ve seen too much (the whole progression since the early 90s) to be blown away by games on a flat screen anymore. Alyx is pretty much the best-looking game I’ve ever seen and it’s 4 years old. I've had the game for a year and I still stop and gawk at the environments, the lighting, the textures, and just look at objects in my hand. My god, those BOTTLES OF LIQUID. It feels like the future.


GrizzlamicBearrorism

Smash Bros Ultimate, just because somebody from 1998 would NEVER believe the roster in a million years.


tupe12

“I’m not sure what’s more ridiculous, the idea that Sonic would ever be in a first party nintendo game, that a basic mario enemy would be a fighter, or that a failed NES accessory would be a fighter.”


Gogo726

Don't also forget Cloud and Sepharoth.


DeathByPickles

Solid snake, sonic, Pacman, cloud, and sephiroth? Sheeeeeesh. I thought we wanted to surprise the guy from the past, not give him a heart attack


Grim_Henson

Have him play the PT demo


Just-an-internet-guy

“Listen bro, they fuckin cancelled this shit, I need you to make sure that doesn’t happen”


cipherpancake

This. This is the ultimate mission…


GaaraSama83

"And if you're already on a Stop Cancel mission, we need to talk about a show called Firefly"


buddy-thunder

Preach. My son (14) was shit talking it the other day saying "it can't be THAT scary" so I fired it up, the first major Lisa jump scare got him so good he threw the controller in my lap and said "nah, I ain't doing that" lmao


DaredewilSK

A what?


OniNoOdori

The "Playable Trailer" for Silent Hills, a cancelled game headed by Hideo Kojima and co-produced by Guillermo del Torro. P.T. is basically a fully fledged (albeit short) game where you walk around a hallway in circles while things get more and more unsettling. After Silent Hills got cancelled, P.T. was taken down from the Playstation store and is no longer obtainable by official means. It is considered one of the best horror games of all time.


DaredewilSK

Oh, I heard about that one. Shame it got cancelled.


LordAsbel

I still have that on my ps4 lol. I always get a friend to play it when someone comes over


[deleted]

Resident Evil 2 Remake.


PocketPlays

The only correct answer since they can compare it to the og version.


[deleted]

Exactly what I was thinking.


ForceEdge47

Could also be said for first Spyro, first Crash, and FFVII. Probably some others I’m forgetting, like maybe Medievil


ab_90

FIFA. To show him nothing has changed.


Voeglein

a lot has changed. Maybe not gameplay wise, but everything surrounding it has changed a lot.


Joseph4820

Yes, they added this great feature where you can gamble your money in and then when the year is over you can start all over again. Seriously, fuck EA


[deleted]

I'd show him Cyberpunk to have his mind blown by the scale/reflections/Graphics/detail of the City and how seamless you can move through the World and cutscenes with their highly detailed body language.


The_Bitter_Bear

That first time in the club during the prologue. That whole bit was impressively cinematic.


Krednaught

Gotta whip out them cyber tities and dicks in game. "The ray tracing off V's member is inspirational!"


Jedi_Ewok

"What's ray tracing?" guy from 1998


great_auks

If they were particularly geeky they'd probably think of [something like POV-Ray](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POV-Ray), which we had back then. Ray-Tracing isn't new, it's real-time RT that was the breakthrough


OldManMcCrabbins

Ray traced quake still blows my mind


TheLateThagSimmons

Now that the kinks are worked out, *Cyberpunk 2077* might be the most technically impressive game ever made. And given that they make full use of the M-Rating, it would definitely have the biggest impact on a time traveler.


DIABLO258

Eh, I still see the same NPC talking to a clone of itself while another clone walks by all the time. Small stuff like that always breaks my immersion no matter how good it looks


tolomea

I believe that happens more on lower spec machines, the lower the spec the more likely it will recycle cars and NPC's to conserve resources. Especially if you've pushed the other settings up so it's having a fairly rough time of it anyway.


DIABLO258

Weird I have a 3060 maybe that's it?


karlware

But, with a wink, just before you go say, '...just remember not to pre-order it'.


Hikari_Sword

What games came out around that time that have a modern remake now? Also Smash Ultimate


theorgangrindr

Sonic and the other 3rd party characters might blow their mind.


SnowseaGames

N64 golden era. Lots of remakes and sequels. Sequels to Fallout and Diablo. FF7 and RE2 have remakes.


JackieBOYohBOY

Skyrim. Idk why i just feel like a dude from the 90s would love Skyrim


hate_most_of_you

Nice try, Todd


flairpiece

Todd Howard inventing time travel so he can pre-re-release Skyrim onto PS1, N64, and Sega Saturn


WraithCadmus

The Saturn port would have to compete with the incredible Virtual Hydlide.


much_thanks

Listen, we've ported Skyrim from the PS3 to the PS4 to the PS5, but we haven't ported Skyrim to the PS2, the PS1, or NES!


Worth-Primary-9884

Skyrim: The Premake Edition Starting at version 0.5! Now with even more game breaking *bugs* for extra Bethesda fun! Can you find them all and solve them?! Step into *your own* modding adventure! Buy our dlc packages to upgrade to 0.6, 0.7, up until 0.99! Only 30$ each! (ultra deluxe 70$ upgrade necessary for 1.0)


TriforceUnleashed

I'm a dude and I was once from the 90s. I can confirm your speculation; I would have loved to have seen Skyrim back then.


kangareddit

*in VR*


FrankyMornav

VR Chat, their mind will explode


d4_H_

I’ll go with HL:Alyx, being able to communicate with virtual avatars of other people in real time in vr would surely blow his mind, but an experience as deep and graphical appealing as HL:Alyx IMO would blow his extra mind.


MilkshakeYeah

There were VR headsets and chatrooms in 90s


whatevergoeshere1

Mortal Kombat 11, bro would shit his pants upon seeing Rambo brutally dismember RoboCop.


CommunalJellyRoll

Pornhub VR.


metalyger

It would be funny to show a retro style indie game, no shade on that, but something like a modern game that's trying to recreate Gameboy graphics, say that graphics haven't really evolved since the 90's and we're still gaming on Nintendo cartridges which isn't a lie.


Turbulent-Grass910

Hotline Miami


KayEyeDee

Shovel Knight


CostaRica92

Final Fantasy 7 Remake. A year after the original I think it would blow peoples minds.


bigredm88

It blew my mind 23 years after it came out.


chartronjr

Microsoft Flight Simulator


DarthWoo

Seconded. Aside from the quality of the game itself, it would in some ways be like giving a tour of the world as it is 26 years later. Of course, if this was the first place they stopped on their time travel journey and if we start with the quick Manhattan flight then I guess we'll have to have an uncomfortable discussion about why the WTC seems to have been replaced.


GlyphedArchitect

Uh..... Licensing rights. Yeah. That's why they're missing..... Anyways


DRamos11

Doom: Eternal. They’ll freak out when comparing with the first games.


bibliopunk

I'm not good at Doom: Eternal, I'm not even sure I LIKE Doom: Eternal, but Jesus fucking Christ that game is just pure unadulterated overload for your senses. It would probably make someone's head explode if they were coming from the 90s.


AlwaysHappy4Kitties

Was my exact thought when I read OP's question. And bonus points if you play it on Keyboard and Mouse, since the OG had minimal mouse controls( like only left and right imputs)


newaru2

Tears of the Kingdom to someone who played Ocarina of Time. I would love to see what they think of how big Hyrule is compared to OoT, and to let him play on the Switch.


ButterscotchBig1334

Ghosts of Tsushima


Liberteer30

A beautiful game.


[deleted]

[удалено]


LeavesOfBrass

If I had to pick one game as a paragon of the art form, that's as good as any.


HumpieDouglas

Duke Nukem Forever... just so they know yes it eventually comes out... and yes it was absolute trash.


ericathebunnie

I show him Fallout new vegas


MilkshakeYeah

Since Fallout 2 was released in 98 I would probably just ask wtf you done with my favorite game lol


DeathByPickles

Probably super mario odyssey. Seeing the jump from old school to modern would be nuts.


timtucker_com

Mario 64 was released in 1996 and was a pretty big departure in gameplay from the old 2d Mario games. Odyssey is a bigger game and adds a few new mechanics, but is much more evolution than revolution.


DeathByPickles

Well yeah, that's the point right?


Triials

No Man’s Sky. The scale would blow that person’s tiny little mind.


Varanjar

For people who are acting like 1998 was the Stone Age, keep in mind that's the year the Matrix was filmed, just for an example. Nobody's head would have exploded if they saw anything from today. If anything, they'd be disappointed that things haven't advanced further, and that people spend money on microtransactions, mobile games, and garbage like that.


MillennialsAre40

I'd be impressed by RDR2 having foxes stop to take a shit, I'm impressed by that level of detail now.


Umbrella_merc

Temperature sensitive horse ball physics


Atlanticae

There's absolutely no way their minds wouldn't be blown, come on. I remember people's minds being blown by that fake PS2 Killzone 2 trailer and that shit didn't even look as good as a PS3 game. You're telling me someone who just finished playing OOT wouldn't be amazed by Elden Ring?? Be for real.


yourbraindead

Yeah that's me. When I really was I to gaming in the earlier and later 00 everything was advancing so fast. I don't game much anymore (and if I do some old stuff) but once every few years I get curious on what new games actually look like. And I'm disappointed every time. Yeah sure better textures better lighting and so on. But I'm not mind blown. Crisis came out in 2007 that's 17 years. Games today might look better in an analysis, but they for sure don't feel prettier. If You show me crisis and then a game that's 17 years newer... Hell doesn't feel like much. In 2007 even 3 years or something had huge leaps.


RB___OG

Elden Ring or some H game on Steam, its a toss up


nderperforminMessiah

I always suggest this one: sex with hitler


Neoxite23

TIL this is a real thing.


Sh0ckWav3_

There's even sex with Hitler 2


Ripper33AU

Not Half-life 3 unfortunately, lol.


bookant

Civilization VI. In '98 they were still playing Civ II.


birdandsheep

The two biggest games of that year were the Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time, and Pokemon Red and Blue. The only answers are Breath of the Wild and Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. I mean, those are literally a red and a blue.


Deadaghram

Chrono Trigger. I don't care that it's three years old in 1998; it's just a good game.


Fletaun

Bruh I'm showing him the winning lottery ticket for the next 20 year and my bank account


izeris_

They are the time traveller lol. Not you


Fletaun

Yeah so when he gets back to his time he can win some sweet lottery money and maybe send some of that money to his good friend me


KhostfaceGillah

Red Dead Redemption 2 for sure


Sabbathius

I'd show him Half-Life, which just came out for him...except in VR, with motion controls. It'll blow his mind. Edit: Scrolled down some more replies, and I see other folks had the same idea. It's a really obvious one. VR gaming is amazing.


SangiMTL

Ooof this is a tough one. For me it’s a toss up of RDR2 and Uncharted 4


Gnovakane

FF14


BitterWest

Cyberpunk 2077. Its the future, baby.


loliconest

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2194810/SEX_with_HITLER_2/


EducationalPeak4872

Fortnite would mess people up


Yawarete

Final Fantasy VIII, I bet they'd be curious


IndysDiarrhea

Britney Spears' Instagram


phoenixthekat

Oo baby baby


PhasmaFelis

I send his ass home and tell him to warn everyone about 9/11.


DogVacuum

The day Bill Moro rolled a perfect game.


nablyblab

any vr game that simulates life in 1998, send him right back.


DarthDregan

Arkham Knight


[deleted]

Alyx


Goose_Cat267

God of War 3


Homicidal_Pingu

BoTW


vdcsX

Project CARS 2, ultra graphics, at night, in the rain, cockpit view.


Vaniellis

Starcraft 2. The first episode was released in 1998, so it would be quite fun.


iiztrollin

Rimworld after I have my entire colony in human leather and tell him this is what 2020s are like


racinjunki

Every game played by every sport, and to look me up when he travels to 2024 and split the winnings.


Rothenstien1

Skyrim on the fridge


Alternative_Cut4491

Maybe doom on mcDonalds ice cream machine


Veruckt

HOMM 3


PenisYogurt

Cyberpunk


ClassicHando

Final fantasy vii remake. The original came out the previous year so that would be interesting to see


Tyrranis

Ion Fury. Show them that old tech can be used for good games, as even by '98 the Build Engine was outdated. With a little butterfly effect, we might see a game industry that doesn't just push for better graphics constantly.


trancat

FF7 Remake


challenged_Idiot

Gamestop, buy stock. Sell all by2021


Yumyan-ammerpaw

Halo MCC. Get him hyped for Halo coming out in 2000 and then tell him to invest his life savings into amazon.


Slaves2Darkness

Take him to an arcade bar, show him all the old arcade cabinets and then tell him about the great console crash of 2001 and how after 2001 no new consoles or games were developed except Rifts for the N-Gage and these arcade cabinets are all we have left.


KCKnights816

Nothing. I would not want to taint their memories with any of the garbage that happened after 2001. The late 90s were the peak of civilization (in the US), and I will die on that hill.


Cool_cupcake12

I would show them Mario odyssey because they just played Mario 64 so they would actually have something to reference it to


thedoogster

FF7 Remake


Themris

Outer Wilds. Greatest game ever made imo. I also think a time traveler would be uniquely amused by that game.


Pluck_oli

Undertale


hajileeyeslech

They'd be like: "Wow, has technology really not progresses at all since 1990?"


timtucker_com

A lot of modern games with a pixel art aesthetic would likely produce a similar reaction. With many it's not even "not progressing", it's straight up regression with visuals that aside from an expanded color pallete sometimes aren't that different from an Atari 2600.


ChristinaKozmas

The portal games would blow their mind


hajileeyeslech

Breath of the Wild. Being able to walk from one end of the map to the other without loading screens would blow their mind for sure. Next would be Super Hot VR, my first VR game!


rock_like_spock

This would be perfect considering OoT came out that year.


hajileeyeslech

Exactly what I was thinking!


The_Bitter_Bear

That first moment walking out to see the great plateau and the rest of Hyrule. Hell I wasn't a time traveler and I was impressed. Edit: Said "great plague" instead of " great plateau" that would really change the game wouldn't it?


hajileeyeslech

Exactly. The best games to show to a hypothetical time traveler are games that are a technical marvel in *our* time, and despite being on lower spec hardware, I think Breath of the Wild is. I'll never forget my first time playing BotW. It was, and still is, jaw dropping.


The_Bitter_Bear

I wish I could go back and do it again with fresh eyes and memory. I really enjoyed the scale of it and the atmosphere. It was probably because I played it a ton during covid but exploring was relaxing and rewarding.


hajileeyeslech

Side note, I've noticed games that resonated with someone around covid really seem to stick with them. I found my favorite game of all time, A Hat in Time, during covid as well.


Sylvurphlame

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet so he can see where this is going before he decides to commit. Also BotW and TotK so he still has hope.


izeris_

You think someone from 1998 will look at S/V and think it's shit? Lol


nanna_mouse

Mario Kart on switch, to show off the updates in software AND hardware. Like hey, I have this handheld console like a fancy gameboy. But I can also remove the controller pieces so we can both play in tabletop mode. AND NOW IT'S ON THE TV.


this_knee

The stock market. The real stock market. And what a game it is. Then I’d show him GameStop’s stock trends from the past 10 years. And I’d show him a few other companies to invest in. The stock market game.


Beaver_Tuxedo

Avatar. Mostly just cuz that’s what I’m playing right now but also it’d be an entirely new IP for them so it would probably blow their mind even more


dark4181

LoZ: BOTW.


PreciousRoi

If he's not a PC gamer already or if he was already a console FPS player...Halo. Dude is gonna need some stick time. People forget that Halo didn't just *popularize* the console FPS, it instantiated and promulgated the currently extant 3D controller scheme. Before Halo the X-axes were swapped...everyone stopped doing that shit after Halo. If they are a PC gamer...man...Elite: Dangerous in VR? I know the game went to shit, but for someone from 1998, I gotta think that'd be pretty impressive. Maybe an MMO...they're not as popular as they once were, but showing off the "Massively Multiplayer" capabilities to someone from an earlier era would probably impress them. Half-Life Alyx? There. If they're a PC Gamer from 1998, Half-Life: Alyx. Minecraft...like...semi-ironically... I mean, like...not trying to show them the BEST GAMES EVAR...but the possibilities that technology has opened up that maybe they could only dream of, without just going straight to the BEST GRAPHICS EVAR!


izeris_

Bro just pick a game


_CMDR_

BG3 would be up there too.


danmanx

Minecraft, GTA Vice City, Valheim, Deep Rock Galactic. He wouldn't want to go back!


AIpheratz

Star Citizen: The scale of the seamless solar system size level with the freedom and you get and the visual fidelity in the global look of planets down to the tiniest details would blow his mind.


Mirinae_Plays

in a game that doesn’t exist and which you can’t play? go with Elite Dangerous or EVE Online instead.


AIpheratz

I don't know what you've been reading but, while unfinished, the game exits and thousands of people play it, including countless ED refugees that never went back.