-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
What is the most recent "Classic"?
- Thread starter Kyra
- Start date
Hollow Knight
Breath of the Wild
Shovel Knight
Doom
Mario Odyssey
Persona 5
Overwatch
Devil May Cry 5
Resident Evil 2 Remake
Spider-Man
God of War
Dragon Quest 11 (in my heart)
I'm leaving out a ton here, but I think all of these and other games from this gen will be remembered fondly as classics years from now.
Breath of the Wild
Shovel Knight
Doom
Mario Odyssey
Persona 5
Overwatch
Devil May Cry 5
Resident Evil 2 Remake
Spider-Man
God of War
Dragon Quest 11 (in my heart)
I'm leaving out a ton here, but I think all of these and other games from this gen will be remembered fondly as classics years from now.
I hope a 20 year old game held in dear regard is still a classic...
Yup.
Based on early impressions over the past few weeks and actual reviews that are just now landing, all of which are suggesting Disco is taking the throne from Planescape: Torment.
Looks like we might be witnessing a modern classic.
Traditional games: BotW
VR: Astrobot
What current younger players will actually be nostalgic for: Fortnite
VR: Astrobot
What current younger players will actually be nostalgic for: Fortnite
BOTW
Inside
Bloodborne
Witcher 3
Ori
Briefly considered GOW but I have no desire to play it again, which for me, is a requirement of a classic. Also really difficult to consider anything from 2019 since it's difficult to tell which games will hold up over time. RE2 and Sekiro would be my guesses.
Inside
Bloodborne
Witcher 3
Ori
Briefly considered GOW but I have no desire to play it again, which for me, is a requirement of a classic. Also really difficult to consider anything from 2019 since it's difficult to tell which games will hold up over time. RE2 and Sekiro would be my guesses.
breath of the wild
hollow knight
these are the games that will be in people's top 10/20/etc games of all time 20 years from now.
hollow knight
these are the games that will be in people's top 10/20/etc games of all time 20 years from now.
The Witcher 3 and The Last of Us, of the ones I played.
they are not my two favorites (RDR 2 and Sekiro), but their gravitas and reach are undeniable.
they are not my two favorites (RDR 2 and Sekiro), but their gravitas and reach are undeniable.
Hollow Knight
Breath of the Wild
Wandersong
Doom
Cuphead
Hitman 2
Celeste
Subnautica
Prey
The Witness
Breath of the Wild
Wandersong
Doom
Cuphead
Hitman 2
Celeste
Subnautica
Prey
The Witness
Someone saying that they'd consider a classic as such if it's still talked about (I'd add on 'positively' lol) 20+ years from now is a pretty good definition for me. And to that end, Super Smash Bros Ultimate really will be something else. Even if there are two NuSmash games by that point, nothing will stand up to the "classic" Ultimate, the most ambitious crossover probably ever from Nintendo. It also helps that, you know, the game itself is really good.
Seeing you post Celeste and Wandersong as recent classics brings me great joy!
I'll also add Fire Emblem 3 Houses, Into the Breach and Return of the Obra Dinn.
Nier
Spider-Man
Witcher 3
God of War
Hollow Knight (even though I don't like it, I can ignore its popularity)
Undertale
Spider-Man
Witcher 3
God of War
Hollow Knight (even though I don't like it, I can ignore its popularity)
Undertale
I think it's Undertale. I hesitate to say BotW because the sequel is coming out and that may impact the first one's reception way down the line. It's the same reason I hesitate to say Dark Souls, because 2 and 3 are clearly iterations on the same foundation. I also think it is difficult to have a classic game that you probably won't be able to play with the multiplayer elements in 20 years which is one thing that makes Dark Souls so compelling.
I would define a classic as something that re-defines a genre or industry. Bloodborne for instance is a great souls game, but demons souls would be a classic for inventing the sub genre. Breath of the wild re-defined open world games so that would be a classic. Destiny has a lot of issues, but its impact has been felt throughout the entire generation. Cod 4 invented the modern deathmatch as we know it. Minecraft created a brand new genre. Pubg was the epitome for battle royale games whereas fortnite just improved it
I have to choose 1 game for this generation: That's how I'll do it.
Witcher 3.
Runner ups: Breath of the Wild, Bloodborne and The Last of Us.
Reasons why not:
BotW: It's basically there, though I go back and forth about it. I think popularly there's no way it isn't a classic.
Bloodborne: It's amazing but too iterative on Souls. It's basically just Souls it just established a new IP with a perfect theme and story, but it's still too familiar.
The Last of Us: A hallmark entry in writing/acting for video games but ultimately it falls short as a "classic" game because it's so... basic, really.
Why Witcher 3:
It iterates on certain RPG trends as well, takes inspiration from Red Dead Redemption and Mass Effect for its approach to open world and dialogue-choice story. It takes the prize for me because it systematized its world just right, with emphasis on narrative functionality and narrative interaction the most. You'll want to slay things but not so much that you won't also want to dabble around a city just finding people to talk to. The tone is straight off the page of a Witcher book, which is an achievement - Tone, while not 100% consistent manages itself extremely well for a 100+ hour game and just the insistence on production value for all conversations and the amount that there is is breathtaking, to quote Keanu Reeves. It's basically Mass Effect 1, a game that also impressed me with hours and hours of simply dialogue between NPCs that you engage with which goes beyond run-of-the-mill fantasy/sci-fi tropes, and actually stimulates my intelligence. It's that but on the scale of Skyrim and that is so impressive that it makes you question how they even did it (the answer being enslaving their developers, polish currency differences and other unfortunately un-admirable results). I think this game already left its mark when you look at the last two Assassin's Creed, the failed Mass Effect Andromeda (which did actually use its latter year to copycat Witcher design) and most likely many other ambitious releases... but none of them beats out Witcher 3 because they don't have the same narrative intent and tonal consistency or the level of empathy and intellect to the writing.
It's not a perfect game but it is a jaw-dropping kind of game once you realize its scope. It's a game I beat twice with about 60 hours of gameplay, and not only did I see the main story unfold certain beats differently but I saw different side-quests and I also haven't seen all side-quests, and I'm so okay with that, because each one asks you to indulge yourself to hear its plea, and it doesn't feel like a game that exists in the service of Geralt as the player. It's un-videogamey in the most complimentary way possible.
Witcher 3.
Runner ups: Breath of the Wild, Bloodborne and The Last of Us.
Reasons why not:
BotW: It's basically there, though I go back and forth about it. I think popularly there's no way it isn't a classic.
Bloodborne: It's amazing but too iterative on Souls. It's basically just Souls it just established a new IP with a perfect theme and story, but it's still too familiar.
The Last of Us: A hallmark entry in writing/acting for video games but ultimately it falls short as a "classic" game because it's so... basic, really.
Why Witcher 3:
It iterates on certain RPG trends as well, takes inspiration from Red Dead Redemption and Mass Effect for its approach to open world and dialogue-choice story. It takes the prize for me because it systematized its world just right, with emphasis on narrative functionality and narrative interaction the most. You'll want to slay things but not so much that you won't also want to dabble around a city just finding people to talk to. The tone is straight off the page of a Witcher book, which is an achievement - Tone, while not 100% consistent manages itself extremely well for a 100+ hour game and just the insistence on production value for all conversations and the amount that there is is breathtaking, to quote Keanu Reeves. It's basically Mass Effect 1, a game that also impressed me with hours and hours of simply dialogue between NPCs that you engage with which goes beyond run-of-the-mill fantasy/sci-fi tropes, and actually stimulates my intelligence. It's that but on the scale of Skyrim and that is so impressive that it makes you question how they even did it (the answer being enslaving their developers, polish currency differences and other unfortunately un-admirable results). I think this game already left its mark when you look at the last two Assassin's Creed, the failed Mass Effect Andromeda (which did actually use its latter year to copycat Witcher design) and most likely many other ambitious releases... but none of them beats out Witcher 3 because they don't have the same narrative intent and tonal consistency or the level of empathy and intellect to the writing.
It's not a perfect game but it is a jaw-dropping kind of game once you realize its scope. It's a game I beat twice with about 60 hours of gameplay, and not only did I see the main story unfold certain beats differently but I saw different side-quests and I also haven't seen all side-quests, and I'm so okay with that, because each one asks you to indulge yourself to hear its plea, and it doesn't feel like a game that exists in the service of Geralt as the player. It's un-videogamey in the most complimentary way possible.
Folks are severely overvaluing many of the games posted in this thread.
God of War, BOTW, and TLOU will stand the test of time. Witcher 3 has a good chance. I have yet to play RDR2 so can't speak to it just yet. I'm curious what legacy Fortnite will hold 20 years from now... I honestly have no idea.
God of War, BOTW, and TLOU will stand the test of time. Witcher 3 has a good chance. I have yet to play RDR2 so can't speak to it just yet. I'm curious what legacy Fortnite will hold 20 years from now... I honestly have no idea.
Celeste, Hollow Knight and Bloodborne for me. There are quite a few famous games mentioned I still haven't played.
Last edited:
BotW is the only thing I can think of that comes close in the last few years.
Maybe something like Into the Breach, which is just... basically perfect? Or Obra Dinn, which is so unique.
Maybe something like Into the Breach, which is just... basically perfect? Or Obra Dinn, which is so unique.
I wouldn't define clasic just on those terms. I think a classic has to inspire more artwork in a meaningful way. Like the classics are classics not only because they are good and remebered but also because they inspire new works like themselves; if this makes any sense.
With this in mind, I can only think of Dark Souls (or whichever soulborne, really), we already have a bunch of "souls-like" don't we?
And maybe Cuphead now that we have Enchanted Portals /s.
BotW is one of my favorite games ever, and I just started Hollow Knight. Hopefully I really like it!