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1. Portal 2 PS3, 2011
Video games often manage to achieve what films rarely can in that sequels have more potential out outclass their originals. Four years after releasing the game "Portal" which featured loveable dark humor and introduced incredibly fun puzzle-solving portal mechanics, they turned all those features to the maximum with Portal 2. The voice acting and world building form a delightful pack drop for this puzzle game that will give your brain a series of workouts to earn the dopamine it graves when you solve your way through the game.
While Portal 2 is enjoyable alone, it also improves on its predecessor with an old-school co-op mode that invites you to sit beside a friend on the couch and puzzle solve your way through more complex co-op challenges. Playing with a friend unlocks the game's true potential and is sure to build bonds with your co-op partner.
2. Mario Maker 2 Nintendo Switch, 2019
Anyone who respects the craft of video games should of course play the original Super Mario Brothers, and many of the entries from that fantastic platforming series that has spanned decades of quality gameplay. Both Mario Maker games have spoiled fans of the series by taking the platforming genre to it's pinnacle. Rather than relying the company to release new 2D platforming games with a finite number of levels and styles based on the resources of a limited number of developers, Nintendo instead put the power of level design in the players' hands. Not only can players create and play their own levels of this game, with access to the full range of visual looks and power ups from the decades long history of the series, but it also lets them share these levels with the entire Mario Maker community. Fans of all ages can now create and play an infinite number of levels in this classic game, with wide ranges of difficulty and creativity to the point that not only is there something for every player, but there's a LOT of something for every player. This piece is gaming history brought to life that puts every generation in the driver's seat, so it more than earns it's place high on the list.
3. God of War PS4, 2018
Mechanically, God of War (2018) is a fun third-person action-adventure game with a semi-open world and stunning visuals. The voice performances in this game are also outstanding, and the character development sets a benchmark for other games to follow. The real appeal to this game, however, is in its story. We experience the game through the eyes of an older father who carries great shame and guilt for his past. Throughout the story, the plot takes him on an adventure with his son as he reconciles his guilt and wrestles with the challenge of when and how to share his past with is son, including how the boy can be impacted by the facts of his lineage. The game asks meaningful questions about whether it is better to be honest at the cost of risks to those we care about, or if it's better to hold back information from the ones we love to protect them at the cost of being open and honest. Young people should experience this story from the eyes of an older parent to help them understand that parents are also flawed humans who don't always know the best way to navigate parenthood, in the same way that teenagers are just doing their best to navigate adolescence.
4. Fall Out New Vegas Playstation/Xbox/PC, 2010
Originally released for the PS3/Xbox 360 and PC, Fall Out New Vegas has been remastered and modded for modern consoles, with reason to believe it will continue to be updated to keep bringing their quality experience into the modern age. It offers an open-world adventure set in the post-nuclear apocalypse with the ability for the player to switch seamlessly from first-person to third-person perspectives. While it may not be visually as beautiful as something like Skyrim given its somewhat limited environments of desserts and buildings, it more than makes up for it in terms of story, rock-solid gameplay mechanics and player choices, including dialogue options that offer a unique experience to every player. You may decide to treat each experience as you would if you were in the protagonist's shoes, or you may choose to roleplay as a certain type of individual. The protagonist functions as a blank slate who interacts the way the player sees fit rather than a more traditional protagonist whose significant choices are made by the game developers for the player to more passively observe.
5. The Last of Us Playstation/Xbox/PC, 2013
Those who have not played this game may roll their eyes at its appearance. It's set in the American zombie-apocalypse with a white male protagonist holding a gun on the front cover. Beneath the surface, however, The Last of Us stands apart from most zombie shooters or survival horror games because of its characters and the heart that goes into them. The voice acting is excellent, the gameplay mechanics are tight, and they appropriately complement the atmosphere of the game itself. The only "zombie game" of its time to which The Last of Us can be fairly compared is Telltale's The Walking Dead, which was released the previous year but is a completely different style of game. Six years later, Days Gone was released. Despite being a much more contemporary game with interesting story and characters of it's own, it still lives in the shadow of the characters you fall in love with from The Last of Us.
6. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Game Cube, 2006
At the time of this article (April of 2023) there are 19 games in the "Legend of Zelda" franchise, not including nearly a dozen remakes, ports and collections. A new title is slated for release one month from now, so this series that started in 1986 is still impressively alive. The reason for its longevity is the publisher's willingness to consistently adapt and brave new oppportunities from simple elevation in hardware to gimmicks like motion controllers. Some adaptations have been more successful than others, but players have always known that they can expect quality effort from a series that refuses to rest on it's laurels and pump out the same formula every year or two. So why does Twilight Princess from 2006 get the nod to represent this treasured franchise?
Despite being something of a black sheep of the Zelda family, Twilight Princess is painfully underrated. It took what was a groundbreaking smash hit in Ocarina of Time (1998) and expanded on it in the way fans in the late 90s could only dream would happen. The game does have it's flaws like an opening section that most players lack the patience to appreciate and somewhat dated graphics by modern standard. This is not a series that fans ever played based on graphics, however. It tells an exciting story that pulls the players through every action they take in the game. Most of the characters are compelling and interesting, among a quirky collection of people and things entire unique to the Zelda universe. Every location has well written mini-stories to discover with characters who have personalities and backstories that range from humorous to tragic. NPCs aren't just lifeless quest-givers- they're story tells who feel like they belong to a bigger world that you get to enter.
Twilight Princess features Midna, who's widely considered the best companion character in the series because she's well thought out and by no means annoying. They has a story, arch and personality of her own, rather than just an exposition and tutorial divice. It's the kind of game that leaves an impression on you well after you walk away from it, making it worth anyone's time to play.
7. Far Cry 5 PS4, 2018
While not as prolific a saga as The Super Mario Brothers or The Legend of Zelda, the Far Cry Series has a higher percentage of highly recommendable games than most. The fifth entry in the series gets it's spot on this list because of two things it does particularly well: Far Cry 5 is fun to play, and it has something to say.
This 2018 entry may look like just another drop in the bucket of open world first-person shooters that flooded the market in the 2010's, but there's much more two it than that. Of course, the game play loops is enjoyable. Players explore areas of the open world map with freedom to decide with of three distinct sections of the world they will discover first. Each area offers unique enemies to torment and challenge you and unique allies to assist you. The side quests are lively and engaging, and the NPCs and voice actors make each mission come to life so it never feels like the player is just going from one point to another performing hallow fetch quests. Even fetch quest style missions have enough personality and decoration to their presentation to feel more fun to play. Of course it helps that the tight controls and visuals of the game make it feel like success or defeat in every action is fair and meaningful on the part of the player.
Fun gameplay is one thing, but it's also the bare minimum for a game. Far Cry 5 also does a beautiful job of open world semi-linear story telling that combines player agency with well written characters. It presents its story in a way that challenges players to think about things like political and religious cult followings, both literal and figurative. It explores the notion of classical human conditioning and, gun culture and the balnce of drug use for healing and for harm in ways that few video games have bothered to do, including the following game in the series. Far Cry 5 takes full advantage of the player interaction to tell a provacative story in a delightful way that balances serious and lighthearted tones masterfly.
8. Overcooked! PS4, 2016
This lesser-known title is a hidden gem. As with Portal 2, Overcooked! can be played alone but its co-op mode is where it truly shines. It's designed for up to four people to sit together in one room and work together to accomplish real-time puzzles and timed tasks that demand on-the-fly teamwork. It's a game that can be enjoyed by a full spectrum of genders, ages and cultures. A grandfather and granddaughter could have just as much fun playing as a brother and sister or husband and wife. It also encourages cooperation and in-person socialization that are desperately lacking from modern games.
9. Detroit: Become Human PS4, 2018
The developer, Quantic Dream, brings us an entry to a genre that challenges what it means to be a "video game" with a title that challenges what it means to be a human. The gameplay is stripped down to a combination of simple environmental/character interactions, dialogue choices, and quicktime events. as with much of this list, the game isn't recommended for its gameplay. It offers a sprawling narrative with remarkable replay value due to how many nuanced directions this kind of game can take. There are a total of 85 potential endings and an incredible variety of story details that can branch in different directions between the beginning and end. What the game sacrifices in engaging gameplay, it makes up for in that player's actions and decisions have real impacts on the characters, including accidental actions and unintended consequences.
Beyond the basic appeal of a game where players aren't just hacking and slashing their way to a predetermined outcome, the story of the game asks players to consider the ethical implications of artificial intelligence scaled to futuristic levels. Players will control androids and humans while exploring different philosophies about how we should treat increasingly sophisticated AI in ways that are becoming increasingly precisant for every generation.
10. Tetris Ultimate Nintendo DS, 2014
The original Tetris was invented in 1984. Nintendo's 2014 version just brings an updated technological presentation of the fundamentals established in '84. It is one of the most recognizable video games of all time due to its mass appeal and popularity. Students should play Tetris at least once before graduating for the same reasons they should pick up a Rubik's cube. It's a universal puzzle that almost anyone can play and enjoy, even if it's essentially impossible to ever "beat" Tetris. It could be argued that the Tetris experience builds resilience and prepares one for many challenges in life that start simple and become increasingly difficult until ultimately overwhelming. There's a kind of poetry to how the simple challenge of aligning shapes and blocks while planning ahead and everyone should experience it at least once.
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