#20
Change YoY: -6 My Rating: 9.4 / 10
Ranking the Uncharted games has always been a little tricky for me personally. In terms of pure spectacle, I'd say the second game is still the peak of the series. Even if Uncharted 3's ship section perhaps outdid it in terms of sheer scale, Uncharted 2's set piece moments felt more connected to the overall story and as such had an overall greater impact. However, as a complete package where all the different elements of the game are brought together in the most cohesive way, Uncharted 4 is the overall best entry in the series in my opinion. The Lost Legacy sits somewhere in between I suppose.
While it doesn't perhaps feature any single truly standout sections like the train level in Uncharted 2, A Thief's End is still filled with a vast array of impressive moments and sections, and in terms of storytelling and writing it stands quite comfortably above the rest of the series, and the experience Naughty Dog had built up over the course of the previous three titles really shows here. In addition, the gameplay has seen some notable improvements, the stealth and gunplay feeling much more natural and fluid, and the climbing sections are much more versatile and responsive than before. In addition, the semi-open world sections add some very nice variety to the proceedings amidst all the very tightly scripted parts.
Uncharted 4 feels like the perfect sendoff to Nathan Drake, and serves as a fitting final chapter to his story. Even if the series goes on, I feel like his part in it, at least as the main protagonist, is now over. Seeing him finally wrap up his adventuring days and settle down with Elena is a perfect way to end his part in the series. Perhaps the hypothetical next game in the series might star the pair's daughter introduced in the game's epilogue chapter. Still, whether that ever happens or not, I'm perfectly satisfied with the way this story concluded.