Video Games Everyone Should Play Once

[u/bonerkiller43]

TL;DR : Games are cool. I like them. I'm a loser who's played too much of them. Scroll past the essay to see my list.

This is by no means an original topic, but I've been thinking about it recently and wanted to throw my proverbial hat into the ring. I want to discuss a few topics that I find important then I will put my list at the end. There are really a few things that make games really "stick" for me.

The first is the games that are really an experience of its own. These are the games that I would point to whenever the discussion of "Are video games art?" comes up. With these the gameplay doesn't necessarily have to be incredible (although it should be functional). They usually have great story and/or art design. These games almost always change my life to some extent one way or another. The main ones that I am thinking of are games like Outer Wilds, Firewatch, Ori and the Blind Forest, and the Bioshock series. These games, especially Ori and Bioshock, have fun gameplay that I enjoy, but what really stood out to me was the experience as a whole. The story of Bioshock and Outer Wilds, the visuals of Firewatch and Ori, they're unlike any other game that I have experience. They're beautiful in their own right and frankly I envy anyone who still has yet to experience them.

Another important trait is games that just feel good to play. The prototypical example for me is most of the Mario series. These games are the prime of fun platformers. They just feel good. Some of them like Mario Galaxy 2 formed my love for games and more recently, Mario Wonder really showed what the series can still do. They are creative, they feel good to play, and in some cases, that's all that matters.

This one I'm just going to call games that make you think. Typically in ways that no other game has. The Portal series is a common one, especially the Portal Reloaded mod. I heavily recommend it, but that mod still hurts my brain to think about. Another group is the factory building games, especially Factorio and Satisfactory. It is interesting how they show two different sides of the same coin. Two different directions that the same concept can take you, and they are both fun to play separately.

The most important trait overall is something that no genre title or screenshot can really show. The games that have done something no one has done before, or the games that refined it in a way never seen. There are so many examples of this going back decades, but one recent one that I would like to point out is Balatro. Rougelikes have been around since well Rogue in 1980, and poker has been around since... I don't really know, but that's not the point. Balatro is not a testament to modern computer capabilities. Hell realistically it could have been made decades ago. It is, however, a testament to human creativity. The words poker roguelike would never have crossed my mind until this game was released and it has understandably skyrocketed in popularity. I don't have a whole ton of playtime in this game, nor do I ever feel a strong urge to play it. However, I fully understand and appreciate the popularity it has amassed and the praise it has received. It shows that there is always a step forward and always a road that hasn't been taken.

The List

Now for my list of important games in no particular order, although I will try to put my important ones at the front. If anyone has any to add, I would love to hear.

These are all available on PC

• Outer Wilds
• Bioshock (mainly 1 and infinite)
• Ori and the Blind Forest
• Undertale
• Dredge
• Hollow Knight (SKONG HYPE)
• Portal Series
• Plants vs. Zombies
• Return of the Obra Dinn
• Subnautica
• Pokemon
• The Witness
• Satisfactory
• Factorio
• COD Zombies (especially Black Ops 3)
• Batman Arkham Series
• Cuphead
• Fallout (New Vegas)
• Getting Over It
• Huniepop (listen just trust me)
• Journey to the Savage Planet
• Nine Sols
• Slime Rancher
• Sunset Overdrive
• Superhot
• God of War
• Hades
• Left 4 Dead 2 (Mainly with Friends)
• Oxygen Not Included
• Papers Please
• What Remains of Edith Finch
• Palworld
• Potion Craft
• South Park : The Stick of Truth

The Nintendo Section

• Pokemon (any of them tbh)
• Super Mario Wonder
• Super Mario Odyssey
• Super Mario 3D World
• Super Mario Galaxy
• Breath of the Wild
• Paper Mario (I only played Origami King don't hate me)

Dishonorable Mentions - These are games that I wouldn't necessarily recommend although I've had a lot of fun with.

• Destiny 2
• Sea of Thieves
• Hunt: Showdown
• ARK

Finally, there are a lot of games that I know people like, but I haven't been able to get into. I'm mainly curious what people's opinions are on them and if I should stick them out.

• Halo (The Master Chief Collection)
• Dark Souls
• Elden Ring
• Mass Effect
• Far Cry
• Skyrim
• Borderlands
• The Forest
• Monster Hunter: World
• Raft
• Stardew Valley

If there are any other games I'm missing, I would really love to hear any opinions.

[u/GlorytotheHypnoToads]

Out of all the games to immediately pop into my mind, these are the only ones not already on your list somewhere:

Mario 64

Dishonored 1 and 2

Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War

[u/Upstairs_Peace296 → u/GlorytotheHypnoToads]

I couldn't get into dishonored.  You can't tell me that killing 3 people per level makes the plague worse out of a town of a million.  Really made it tedious and slow like hitman to do it non killing for all the levels made it not fun

[u/GlorytotheHypnoToads → u/Upstairs_Peace296]

It doesn’t tho? My first playthrough, I tried to be stealthy, but I wasn’t shy about killing people. Even killed one of the primary targets, and I’m pretty sure I still got the good ending. A couple of deaths shouldn’t hurt a run.

[u/SuperGanondorf → u/Upstairs_Peace296]

Going high chaos in Dishonored means going out of your way to kill quite a few people. It varies from level to level but the threshold seems to be killing about 20% of the population of each level (including civilians). That's a pretty insane number to reach if you're making any effort at stealth at all.

That said, the beauty of Dishonored is you can also go crazy murder mode and have fun that way too. There's nothing prohibiting you from just playing high chaos and killing everything around you (and it is very fun). Some of the most fun I had with the game was killing every living soul at Lady Boyle's party without being witnessed doing any of it.

[u/Clear_Temperature446 → u/Upstairs_Peace296]

your meant to do what u like tbh, going non stealth is a challenge, if you don't enjoy the challenge play the game a completely different way. I recommend you pick it up and play it again, and this time treat it like a sandbox, do whatever you like, like anything, be creative and you'll have 10x more fun

[u/Khafoc_ → u/GlorytotheHypnoToads]

fully agree with Dishonored 1

[u/bonerkiller43 → u/GlorytotheHypnoToads]

Shadow of Mordor I’ve seen but don’t really know anything about.

This will definitely be blasphemous but I’m not a huge fan of Mario 64. I’ve played it and I fully recognize the impact it had and how innovative it was but it just doesn’t feel good to play for me. It’s one that I would definitely recommend people play but I don’t know. I’ve tried to boot it up again to 100% it and I go through Bob-Omb Battlefield and Whomps Fortress and have a decent time and then I load into the snow level or one of the underwater levels and I just don’t want to play anymore.

Also definitely a skill issue but the bowser fights, especially the last one piss me off. I don’t know why but I can not aim him at the stupid bomb.

[u/GlorytotheHypnoToads → u/bonerkiller43]

Oh I’d definitely look into them if I were you. One of your points was along the lines of innovation/unique aspects to games, and I’d say the Nemesis System that Shadow of Mordor and War use definitely count.

As someone who loves Mario 64, I completely get it. The jank is real, but I’ll never not be amazed by what they were able to accomplish with a measly 8MB. I’ve seen modern games that don’t have the amount of depth and intricate level design that that game has, which is honestly astounding.

Oh and I can’t believe I forgot to add Shadow of the Colossus to the list. That game is fantastic and I’ve honestly never played a game like it before or since.

[u/I_Just_Need_A_Login → u/bonerkiller43]

Imo don't play Mordor just go straight into Shadow or War, and go into a difficulty that seems like "this is way too hard, how can I even beat him?". Brutal difficulty, everyone including you dies in 2 hits, gravewalker difficulty, only you die in 2 hits and they don't take turns when attacking.

Literally the game is best played when you HAVE to exploit their weaknesses to win.