Welcome to my thread. Making a list that actually makes sense. When I say influential, I'm referring to games that set standards and raised bars. Learn the difference between influence and impact, and also popularity, because on this list there are tons of games you're expecting that won't be here if you don't understand the true meaning of what it is to influence.
To Impact is to leave an impression and be memorable and be perhaps unique. Portal was unique and made a big impact and was recognized and loved and welcomed, Minecraft too, Gears of War, Infamous, LittleBigPlanet...all games that made an impact.
To influence is to inspire and to leave something behind that your predecessors have to either meet or exceed in order to be respected and taken seriously...so you' might be shocked to see what #10 is...so here we go...
10. Wii Sports:
The Wii Sport is on this list to represent the arrival of Grandpa, Grandma, and family into gaming. Yes last gen greatly marked the arrival of the casuals and for a while us serious gamers were afraid that devs will abandon real games and go milk as much money as they came from these new casual demographic the Wii dragged in, but luckily that wasn't the case. But casuals did. The Wii didn't influence other games except maybe Kinect and stupid move games, but these games all fall into the same category as just games that gave casuals a place. So it didn't influence games but it influenced the gaming world. I don't want it on my list but I'm not an hypocrite so it's here.
9. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare:
As much as I hate this stupid piece of crap trendy bro-game, it did make last gen multiplayer big and gave FAiLO a run for its money. And that's all the respect this piece of crap is going to get from me. Not even putting a picture.
8. Flower:
Brought gamers attention to notice Indie games and devs, and made us realize the simplest concepts and the most unexpected can also be successful. Gave a spotlight to indie devs, I guess is my point.
7. Dead Space:
Brought the 7th Gen's attention to Horror Games and held it's ground. Actually became a reference and standard for what a scary game was supposed to play like. It showed Fear 3, Left 4 Dead and many other horrors how it's done.
6. Fallout 3:
Fallout 3 really came out of nowhere and set the pace for RPG Shooters. Games like Tabula Rasa or Huxley never made it to being released (as far as I know). I was actually interested in Tabula Rasa and was saving my allowance back then in the tenth grade to build a rig to play the game. but it didn't show. Now, I Gamefly'd Fallout 3 and hated this piece of shit game, but that doesn't mean I'm going to be an hypocrite and not put it on my list of games that influenced and made an actual difference.
"Against all odds, Bethesda’s hugely successful revival of the Fallout series overcame skepticism about transitioning the classic role-playing series to a first-person perspective. It accomplished that by preserving the tactical flavor of combat with the VATS combat system, and by creating an amazing atmosphere, immersing us in an darkly satirical version of America that’s been burned to the ground by nuclear war – a bleak, brutal world full of supermutants, ghouls, and bandits out to take what they need to survive." --IGN
5. Demon's Souls: No one saw this game coming. But, it inspired combat systems and showed the true capability of next gen combat. Perhaps Skyrim wouldn't have been as immense as it was in terms of combat if it didn't have to compete with the bar this title raised. With games like Dark Souls one and two being inspired from this, we can conclude that this game showed the true capability of 7th gen hack and slash and was a good reference for medieval themed games.
This 2009 action game might as well have been called Break Your Soul – it’s one of the most difficult games ever made, a hack-and-slash for the PlayStation 3 that combined Diablo-like level-crawling and looting with a gambling game involving your life.
If you die in Demon’s Souls, you lose all the “souls” you’ve collected — they’re still around, but waiting for you back at the spot you died. If you want them back, you have to make it to your “bloodstain” without dying again. The trick then, in the immortal words of Kenny Rogers, is knowing when to hold ‘em, as well as when to fold ‘em. A sleeper hit, this one spawned an equally acclaimed sequel a few years later dubbed Dark Souls.
4. Uncharted 2.
Brought this gen's attention to the significance of character development and gamer/character bonding and the significance of story telling through gameplay. Most importantly, it set a fcking standard that's still not completely shattered till today. Uncharted 2 told the gaming world that one game element (gameplay, story, character, quality, graphics, content, replayability) didn't have to be sacrificed for another. Uncharted 2 set the fcking bar high for the rest of the gen.
3. Skyrim:
I took a fcking arrow to the knee. That's all I'm going to say about Skyrim. Before Skyrim, let's be honest, Oblivion did a good job and had it's days, but Skyrim brought more attention to RPG games. Skyrim did one thing tricky. It sacrificed world quality and consistency and texture detail (don't freak out I'm not bashing, just pointing out glitches and how you can scale a pretty steep mountain by just keeping your analog pressed forward) and completely got away with it hands down. Skyrim was packed with content and was my first RPG game. I fcking hate RPGs but I enjoyed every single bit of Skyrim.
You've gotta love how huge Skyrim is. Thousands of unique NPCs. Hundreds of quests. Over 100 unique dungeons. And of course… draugr. So many draugr. But just talking about its incredible sheer size in many ways does the game a disservice. Because the world of Skyrim is much more than a check-box of dungeons and towns. It's freedom – the freedom to create whatever kind of hero we want, from a kahjit that uses nothing but her fists, to a sword & magic battlemage or stealthy, dagger-wielding argonian. It is intoxicating to earn a perk and know you can spend it on almost any of the huge selection of skills. The main quest and guild quests tell great tales well worth experiencing, but sometimes just wandering in the wilderness, creating tales of your own, can be even more compelling. Of course, you can do all of that on the console version, but with the absolute treasure trove of mods available only on PC, Skyrim becomes nearly limitless.
Pick a random direction and strike out – adventure is sure to find you soon enough. - Justin Davis
2. Bioshock: Holy shit. Inspired controversial art style, Inspired deep complicated story telling. Brought last gen powerhouse gaming elements like the sidekick and protagonist concept we saw with Alyx and Gordon Freeman of Half Life, into the 7th Gen. Who's the little girl? And why is that big thing with the drill for a hand chasing after her?
Games like this are what made the media stop seeing games as just silly hobbies and stupid side interest. Games like this is why gaming this gen began to be be taken more seriously.
1. The Witcher 2: Rejoice Herms. Your game made my list. Never got around to playing it after I finished Skyrim. My stupid N770 laptop couldn't run it properly.
"A great RPG is one where choices actually matter, but The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings takes that to an entirely new level. Instead of merely swapping out a few dialogue lines and enemies, certain decisions affect the outcome of your entire story, thus leading you into vastly different settings and confrontations. More than that, The Witcher 2 is dark fantasy done right, and not just a bunch of regurgitated JRR Tolkein tropes. We see guerrilla elves running wild and sad, dilapidated dwarven cities together in a detailed world that's almost as striking on the Xbox 360 as on the PC. Even with its tough learning curve, it's a journey worth taking." - Leif Johnson, IGN
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So, there. If you're disappointed it's because you expected lots of popular games like Gears, Mass effect, Portal, and many more to be on the list but didn't see those names. Those games are all popular but not influential.
Honorable mentions are: Dragon Age 2, MGS4, Portal 2, Motorstorm, Little Big Planet, and quite a few others...Thanks for reading.
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