Game of the Generation

 By: Patrick Morris

I know I'm a little late but I've been thinking about the eighth generation of consoles for the past few months in an attempt to narrow down what the best games of the generation were. It was an incredible seven years, you could even call it an embarrassment of riches. From the start of the generation with game's like Ryse: Son of Rome, Sunset Overdrive, and Resogun all the way up to the very end with the likes of Ghost of Tsushima, Microsoft Flight Simulator, and Spiderman: Miles Morales the last generation has been one full of memories. But when it comes to naming the top ten of the generation some tough choices have to be made.

 

Welcome welcome welcome everyone welcome back to LegalSpeak, a ColdNorth Production. I'm TheLaw Morris and this is the video essay series in which I get to talk about the games I've been playing and what I think of the medium as a whole. Like you might have guessed today we will be discussing my top ten games of the last generation. So without further ado, let's get to it.

 

10)

In a generation full of excellent new IP's it became increasingly difficult to standout. But with an excellent premise and the promise of nearly constant giant robot dinosaur fighting, standout is exactly what Horizon Zero Dawn did. With an intriguing story, compelling leading character, and Shadow of the Colossus like Combat all occurring within one of the most beautiful game worlds I had ever played in, Horizon Zero Dawn proved that the PlayStation 4 had arrived.

 

9)

As a kid I used to play a lot of video games with my sister who is two years my senior. No matter how good I got, no matter how much I practiced, she would still beat me at Mario Kart 64…while playing with her feet. I never forgot that and have poured dozens and dozens of hours into nearly every subsequent Mario Kart release since, but none more than Mario Kart 8. Personally I consider the Switch the follow up to and continuation of Nintendo's handheld line while the Wii U was the final installment of their home consoles. So that being the case, the Wii U is technically a part of the eighth generation of consoles and therefore the original release of Mario Kart 8 qualifies for this list. The best of what the series has to offer in tracks, music, and creativity, combined with the return to more narrow courses amping up the signature chaos, and the introduction of the game breakingly fast 200cc mode, Mario Kart 8 is the richest Mario Kart experience ever; and with the release of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the Switch making it portable it's not only the richest experience but also the most complete package to date. It's rare that a developer makes a game so good that a significant portion of the audience empathizes with them for having to follow it up, but to whoever it is out there that is making Mario Kart 9…godspeed.

 

8)

It's not often that we get to see a franchise completely reinvent itself and even less frequent is seeing a franchise do so multiple times. But with Breath of the Wild Nintendo has completely reinvented Zelda for the second time. Changing the game and at the same time raising the bar for what an open world can be by making every surface climbable Nintendo poured an entirely new foundation for the series based off the original blueprint. For the first time since the original game Nintendo let the player off the leash to run in whatever direction they wanted. While it may have come at the cost of a more cohesive and involved story a series of fully realized combat, exploration, physics, and environmental systems made Breath of the Wild the best addition to the series in more than ten years.

 

7)

Of the biggest properties in the world Marvel is one of the biggest, and at their core is the most recognizable superhero in the world, Spiderman. When given the opportunity to choose from Marvel's stable of character's to center their next video game on Insomniac's Ted Price tells the story as though it wasn’t a discussion of which character they would choose but one of why they had already chosen Spiderman. Marvel's Spiderman masters the locomotion of the web slinger while placing him in what is the closest to a one to one recreation of New York City ever created in a video game making the player really feel like Spiderman. Intentionally seperating their itteration of Spidey from the Marvel Cinematic Universe or really anything else that has come before allowed Insomniac the freedom to make it their own in a way that was essential to making the game work. Excellent writing combined with top tier acting and the best gameplay of any Spiderman game ever had me more excited about Spiderman than I had been since I was 13 seeing Spiderman 2 in theatres.

 

6)

In space no one can hear you scream, but in my small bedroom in my tiny apartment my then girlfriend now wife heard me scream several times as the Alien in Alien Isolation emerged from the vents at the most inopportune times. Since the inaugural outing the Alien franchise hadn't returned to it's horror/thriller roots until the 2014 game that is the closest thing to a direct sequel to the original movie both in spirit and story. Alien Isolation's utilization of a unique AI system for the Alien that learns from the player's previous attempts circumvents the most common pitfall's of the survival horror genre by making the Alien's behavior wholly unpredictable with the exception of a handful of scripted sequences. Through intense tension buildingand sparing usage of jump scares Creative Assembly made Alien Isolation the Alien sequel I had been waiting for since I first saw Alien when I was 10.

 

5)

In the endless pursuit of player engagement open world adventures have become common place, and in the last generation there were very few open worlds that measured up to Sucker Punch's feudal Japanese setting of Ghost of Tsushima. The fact that the story of Ghost of Tsushima is the weakest aspect of the game and it still manages to pack an extremely emotional punch several times speaks volume to the quality of the game. Stellar combat, excellent map design, and graphics so good it would be more believable if I were told the game was being played on a PlayStation 5 than a PS4 all combine to make for one of the best console exclusives not only of the generation but of all time.

 

4)

Virtual reality has been on the mind of gamers everywhere for literally decades. It wasn’t until 2020 with the release of Half-Life Alyx that the narrative surrounding VR finally getting its first "killer app" started to change. But VR already had it's killer app that millions of players had made the mistake of playing on a TV. Resident Evil 7 was a thrilling survival horror game that was easily a contender for game of the year during a year in which it was forced to compete with Breath of the Wild and Horizon Zero Dawn. By bringing Resident Evil back to its roots Capcom was able to recapture the magic of the origins of the franchise and then strapped that experience to their audience's face. RE7 was the first game that proved that VR technology is finally ready for the big stage while restoring faith in and reinvigorating a classic series.

 

3)

Leaks have become a given in the video game industry and they are almost always better conceptually than the actual game ends up being. A game living up to the potential of the leaks is a rare occurrence but a game exceeding that potential is almost unheard of. Rumors had been swirling of a God of War sequel taking place in a Norse mythological context for years and the game finally released in 2017. Molding a known quantity into a more character focused human story God of War did an excellent job of growing with its audience and developing into more than the hack and slash action game's it descended of.

 

2)

I love the X-Files, I love the Twilight Zone, I love vaguely connected universes, and I love Alan Wake…so I really love Control! From the moment the game began Control forced its audience to question what was actually going on around them and allowed them to unravel an impossibly large yet well contained mystery requiring multiple playthroughs to really understand. Over the course of two Max Payne games, Alan Wake, and Quantum Break Remedy has evolved from a good studio making unique games to a sleeping giant just waiting to be scooped up by Microsoft or Sony. Control's action, environmental story telling, and story draw from the best of Uncharted, Infamous, and Bioshock to make a game that rightfully places Remedy amongst the industries giants like Naughty Dog, Insomniac, and Rockstar. Control is equal parts enthralling, terrifying, and fun and it would have been my best game of the generation if it werent for those pesky outlaws.

 

Honorable mentions:

Before we get to the best game of the generation I want to call out some honorable mentions. While they might not have made the final top 10 list Smash For and Ultimate, Ori 1 and 2, Rocket League, Overwatch, Doom, Doom Eternal, Hitman, Prey, Titanfall 2, Apex Legends, Resident Evil 2, Link's Awakening, and Spider-Man: Miles Morales are all games that absolutely branded my brain with their memories and are deserving of nearly the highest praise I can give. If you havent played these games do yourself a favor and go snatch them up right now, you can thank me later.

 

1)

On occasion I will react so strongly to a piece of media that it will literally bring tears to my eyes, Return of the King, Miracle, Avengers Endgame, and the Last of Us all come to mind. But in my entire life no piece of media has made me burst into tears the way Red Dead Redemption 2 did. I've heard and understand some of the criticisms regarding the game being more hand-holdey than previous Rockstar games, and I think that for many that is a legitimate criticism; but to me the caliber of story that was being told earned quite a bit of forgiveness in that respect. While the gameplay was great the overwhelming reasoning for Red Dead Redemption 2 earning the number 1 spot on this list was its character focused story telling. Witnessing Dutch's descent into madness as he chases the bigger and bigger score and seeing Arthur slowly come to the realization that he has lost Dutch and he owes it to those around him to challenge Dutch's authority at opportune times to get them out of a bad situation was beautifully tragic. The cast of characters, the story told, and the setting in which it takes place all add up making Red Dead Redemption 2 the new gold standard in narrative story telling in video games making it an easy choice for my game of the generation.

 

So there's my list. What games made your short list for game of the generation and what made you enjoy them so much? Let me know in the comments down below! I'll be back next time talking about something else entirely so until then just go play some games.