Most impressive game this gen?

We are only a few days away from starting a new gen and so far the reactions have been mixed, with some people really excited and some others thinking ... meh.

As somone who isn't that much excited for the next gen, at least for now mainly because i think none of the newer games are looking that impressive, i was thinking ... which game this gen was the one who made you glad you got a current gen console (Xbox One, PS4 or Switch) or an upgraded PC?

The game that maybe isn't your all time favorite (maybe it is), but the one that impressed you the most for either graphics, scope, creativity, etc ...

Anyway, for me it has to be Smash Ultimate.

I mean the sheer amount of characters, franchises and even brands that came together is mind blowing and i'm sure nobody will ever accomplish the same again.

This was more of an event and a celebration than a game and i'm sure it has earned its place on media history.

Also, its damn fun to play so yeah, big win for everyone.

For PS4 i got several great games, included Dark Souls 3, Spiderman and one of my favorites, Horizon Zero Down, however the most impressive game i played on that console is without a doubt, Bloodborne.

I mean there are several reasons for this. First of all, the world building is phenomenal, the lore is so damn great ... i watched hours upon hours of videos explaining everything about the Ancient ones and all that stuff.

Also, the atmosphere is so amazing, so oppresive and so scary, this is one of the greatest horror games ever. The enemies move the same way they look and it has so many great details i'm convinced this couldn't be done in previous gens.

It is not my favorite in the Souls series to play and re play, but it has the edge when it comes to everything else.

Anyway, what do you say?

Days away? We're still weeks away lol.

Smash Ultimate is definitely impressive but for me it's a toss-up between Witcher 3 (PC) and Breath of The Wild (Switch).

Both games re-defined their genres and I've rarely experienced games as immersive as these two.

I mean ... potato - patata :P

Breath of the Wild was up there, but in the end i think i had to go with Smash because of everything else around the game. Zelda was damn impressive as well, specially by how they build the map ... like every inch was carefully crafted and even how they tested game mechanics, by casically creating an entire 2D game first.

Never had the chance to play The Witcher 3, i keep hearing the combat is kind of bad ... that's the main reason i haven't try it.

Despite its flaws, there’s a lot of technical accomplishment packed into Days Gone. I personally really liked the Dynamic Weather System they implemented, twas excellent.

I also have to give OW a nod for its design. It has been a struggle with low-lows and high-highs but the quality is incredible.

I keep hearing that as well and sometimes feel like me and those people played two different games. I'll be first to admit that combat is nothing special in that game but to call it bad is an exaggeration. I definitely recommend you try it even if you're new to Witcher, the game keeps going on sale so you won't have to spend much on it. At least give it a look on YouTube if you're that uncertain.

A month away to be exact.

My vote still remains with Prey and Outer Wilds (not Outer Worlds).

I'd say RDR2 because it just feels like a cohesive and ambitious vision for a game that was executed extremely well.

the game isn't perfect but the fact that Rockstar were willing to pour insane resources into a game that they must have known would turn many people off due its cowboy-sim elements remains impressive to me.

Flight Sim 2020 is runner up for me, just due to its incredible simulation of the earth and its atmosphere

Stardew Valley or Cuphead for me.

Doom Eternal. closer at being a perfection.

RDR2 could have been so much better if rockstar never throw a ball at gameplay. they did lot of detail. made everything looks photorealistic, work on story and characters but gameplaywise it was horrible. tried to liked it but couldnot.

Outer Wilds

This was the most impressive game, as in: 'I didn't know video games could provide this kind of experience'

Technically impressive just isn't that impressive anymore.

Last of Us 2 or Days Gone.

I've had a really simple experience with 3d animation (then quit) so ND is one of the top devs for me. SE and past AC team were really up there. DMC5 was impressive too.

TLoU 2 has really good grounded gamey (gamey since it's still a game ofc) combat but severely hampered by lack of resources. At least there's a fix for that.

I just find it far more impressive as a package than Dead Space and recent RE remakes.

DG, looks better than tlou2 many times and the pipedream zombie funnel combat is amazing. Lacks enemy variety though.

Why ???

Don't get me wrong, i had the feeling you were going to mention either one of the Doom games, and i really want to know what make this games impressive from any point of view.

There are still many high quality games on my backlog, so I am not in a position to give a definitive answer. However, from what I have played so far....

The Witcher 3. Amazing game with a cool character, immersive world, and excellent writing and design that bring everything together in a way that is very engaging and satisfying. Hollow Knight is my second pick.

Street Fighter V is the best fighting game I have ever played. Easily put more hours in this game than any other game this gen... and any other fighter I ever played. It had a rocky jump out the gates but updates and balance changes have made this a real polished fighter.

Resident Evil 7 was great on many levels. The first person change could have gone bad, but it kept the feeling of RE intact and made it scary as hell. The mansion and the family you meet were really fleshed out. Also the NG+ system is great.

Monster Hunter World finally made the series a hit for new comers... the slew of changes to the game mechanics makes it the most approachable in the series. It still maintained enough of the old school games to keep the fans. The monster on monster battles were intense and this game looks amazing on a high powered rig.

Technically, Breath of the Wild, with its chemistry engine.

MSFS 2020. You can literally travel the globe.

Alyx, for taking VR into AAA territory

MSFS 2020 for technical accomplishment

The Witcher 3 (was that this gen?) for just plain fun.

Honorable mention:

Jedi: Fallen Order for being the first good SW game in over a decade.

Factorio, probably the best indie game this gen.

Call of Duty Warzone

^

Not just this, it's simply the best implementation of VR for a FPS, practically 0 jank, many VR issues solved.

We can already see it's influence from The Quest 2 showing and i'm willing to bet MOH retroactively redesigns elements, with Ubisoft taking careful note on it's upcoming titles.

Probably Monster Hunter World; There are lot of good things i can say about several games, but Monster Hunter World is the one i'll remember the most from this gen.

No point of mentioning anything else but CP2077 cuz we all know it will crush everything when it comes to being impressive in every way.

I mostly play online multiplayer so my picks for GotG goes to the first Titanfall and PUBG. Gaming perfection.

Days Gone for me, gameplay loop was a lot of fun. The decisions on going out doing missions versus weighing chances of pushing it and either running out of gas/ammo or just sol cause a horde/animal rampaged through effing up ur stealth.

Witcher 3

Gears 5.

You know that feeling you got as a kid when you played Mario 64 for the first time and it redefined what was possible in your favourite hobby?

I think I had that same feeling again for the first time in over 20 years. I cannot believe what Nintendo achieved with Breath of the Wild.

From what I've played probably Horizon Zero Dawn. Monster hunter world was pretty good too.

Agreed 1000%. Breath Of The Wild is the Zelda game I have been fantasising about since I played Ocarina and read Lord Of The Rings in 1998. Bonus points for it sh!tting all over the people who said that open world, voice acted, systems based Zelda would never work 😂

I love the amount of love this game is getting, it's a 5 star game for me too, like Red Dead Redemption crossed with Last Of Us crossed with Sons Of Anarchy. Fantastic experience!

LISA: The Painful RPG is easily the best game of the last decade. It's literally the thinking man's Undertale.

Outside of Astrobot .... nothing did all that much to wow me. If I had a PC VR setup there'd probably be more.

There were some impressive worlds here and there, but it was mostly cosmetic or inconsequential.

Hmmm..... Mine probably MGSV in term of how you can approach missions in so many clever or stupid ways, with many arsenal at disposal and the AI interactivity to every situation. Weirdly I never finished a mission with the walker gear, might be a reason to come back.

Smash Ultimate is a next gen game as Switch is a competitor for PS5 and XSeX. Thus, OP's pick is invalid. /jk

Eh... I'd probably have to go with Uncharted 4, Witcher 3 or Ghost of Tsushima. They were all incredible in their own way.

Was really impressed with MGSV and BotW for similar reasons. Systems driven sandboxes with tons of interactivity providing plenty of room for emergent gameplay scenarios. All under the hood of some strong mechanics in content rich spaces, with insane levels of polish.

So many memorable moments from both games that had nothing to do with their stories or any scripted sequences.

MGSV provides the higher highs in that regard, but MGS has always had elements of sandbox play. Was really surprised to see Zelda go that route and do it so well. Bonus points for BotW being balanced/structured in such a way that all but the most uncreative players can get something out of it. With MGSV, far too easy for a player to overpower the game, make the most efficient choices, and miss like 99% of what the game has to offer.

Not exactly my favorite games of the gen, just the ones that surprised me the most.

@ConanTheStoner: This is very surprising given the rave hype BOTW had, possibly the most hyped game before/after this generation?

Having said that, never really struck me as the type to buy into what the crowds are yammering about.

Probably go with Breath of the Wild myself. I was also really impressed with Monster Hunter World, Devil May Cry 5, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and Resident Evil 2 Remake as well.

Ghost of Tsushima for now Cyberpunk 2077 comes out next month so my answer will probably change.

The most fun I've had with a game this "gen" is Mario Odyssey... so that I guess.

Ha, yeah not usually. I find a lot of modern AAA to be wank, but on occasion those stars align. Most of the big hype games I tried this gen were a snoozefest, but when companies like Nintendo or Capcom are on top of their game, usually deliver the goods.

Not even sure if BotW would make my top 10 this gen though, just found it impressive and especially surprising that Nintendo would make a game like that.

Been on a 3d Mario marathon binger recently, and started a replay of Odyssey yesterday. I already liked it a lot, but enjoying it even more the second time around.

I'm not usually too concerned about Nintendo making direct sequels, but I really hope we get an Odyssey 2. Just like how SMG2 was to SMG1, doubling down on the first games strengths and trimming away the weak stuff.

Would hate to see this set of mechanics limited to just one game, and they could do sooooo much more with the level design and challenges.

Forza Horizon 3, Remnant From the Ashes, Streets of Rage 4, Just cause 4.

@ConanTheStoner: Yeah agreed, an Odyssey sequel would be epic. I should start a second play through too.

HL: Alyx because it's the one game with an awesome, multi-race, female protagonist that didn't get the incels and menanists and angry dudes all worked up about it.

I mean, who else could pull that off but Valve, amirite? Only took....15 years?

*ah just realized I already mentioned Alyx in this thread, so I guess just add this as another reason.

Bloodborne, breath of wild, and God of war.

All masterpieces that are actually fun to play.

Pretty torn between Warhammer 2: Total War and Red Dead Redemption 2.

I think it's got to be Bloodborne. Incredibly atmospheric and intimidating right from the start. Everywhere you go is a threat which is something that is simply missing from the vast majority of games now. Sure you can raise the difficulty in games but a lot of the time that makes them more annoying not more challenging as the devs decide what you're really asking for is bullet sponges or massively unfair advantages to the enemies.

Bloodborne just got the balance exactly right and yes with a lot of the bosses you just have to 'get good' not in an elitist patronising way but rather hey this game is going to force you to learn how to actually play it we are not going to hold your hand through the whole thing.

I really loved this game, hated it a few times too lol but yeah, this is my game of the gen.

Honourable mention to AC Odyssey which is easily the best open world game this gen by a country mile for me. How to make a huge expansive environment exciting and interesting is beyond the means of most devs who keep churning these things out over and over including RDR2 which literally bored me to tears to the point I just had to stop playing it or Witcher 3 which to me was a game you kept playing just for the story, pretty much the ultimate 'movie game' considering how shit the combat is and how awful the skill builds are there isn't much else to it. Hilarious that really, since Sony games that do the same thing are pounced on and ridiculed while W3 is game of the gen for people who hate Sony lmao but hey it is what it is.

Also worth a mention is Far Cry New Dawn, an absolutely fantastic game that most people will never play because a) it's Far Cry and b) it's Ubisoft. Your loss, seriously.