As the thread title says, in celebration of the gen coming to a close, I want to hear about the titles that defined the gen for you. Games you enjoyed most, that you played most because you got addicted to them, those that put a happy smile on your face as you played, that impacted you emotionally the most, that impressed you most because of their ideas, visuals, or any other technical merit, and the likes...
I consider the Wii U and Switch to be both part of gen 8, along with the obvious PS4 and XBox One and their revisions/mid gen refreshes. This thread isn’t about whether or not the Switch belongs to Gen 9. It will most likely straddle both gens, but this isn’t the thread to debate this, so please refrain from derailing the topic by doing so.
It would be nice if you’d give an explanation for why you selected your games as well. But you may also simply highlight certain titles for which you have a particular anecdote to tell. It can be any number of games. This isn’t a top 10 or 20 of your favourite games, so there is no need to put them in any particular order.
[Will edit this out later]: Right now, the site is being capricious for me and loads slow as hell, so I will post my list of games, and slowly add comments for them as the site becomes more stable.
- Uncharted 4: A Thieve’s End : One of my favourite 7th gen franchise finally concluded in what is still to this day one of the most visually amazing game on the PS4. Managed to tie with Uncharted 2 Among Thieves as best in the franchise for me. Which is no small feat.
- Horizon: Zero Dawn : Great setting, intriguing story, I played this game to completion and was left asking for more. An original take on a post apocalyptic setting in which I got lost for countless hours trying to unravel its mysteries.
- Final Fantasy XV : While far from among the best FF games, it was an addictive experience for me, and I enjoyed exploring its world quite a lot. It was notoriously plagued by questioning gaming design and DLC implementation. But it had heart and finally put back exploration as a feature in the series, which had been mostly lost since X. I can’t wait to play it enhanced on PS5.
- Batman: Arkham Knight : One of my earliest game this gen. A great send off my Rocksteady to one of the best new gaming franchises in the last two generations. It is amazing what the studio managed to create with this older version of Unreal Engine. While I think too much focus was put on the Batmobile, what it presented on every gameplay front felt polished and the story elements taken from decades of comics was put together in a very cohesive and organic manner. There is so much content! This is the definitive Batman gaming experience, even if I prefer the more “metroidvania” focused Arkham Asylum.
- Ratchet & Clank
- Driveclub VR
- Skyrim VR
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Super Mario 3D World
- Astro Bot: Rescue Mission
- Resident Evil VII (especially in VR)
- Hollow Knight
- God of War
- inFamous: Second Son
- Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
- Mario Kart 8
- Ori and the Blind Forest
- Detroit: Become Human
- Life is Strange
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Resident Evil 2
- Tetris Effect
- Bloodstraine: Ritual of the Blood
- Shenmue 3
- Final Fantasy VII Remake
- Dragon Ball FighterZ
- Dragon Ball Z Kakarot
- Streets of Rage 4
- The Last of Us Part 2
- Ghost of Tsushima
- The Messenger
- The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
