What are the most "essential" video games in your opinion? (2024)

thief 2
devil may cry 3
super mario 64

you aren't allowed to have opinions on these genres unless you've played these games.

San Andreas
Mario 64
Halo
Melee
Bioshock
Resident Evil 4
One of the Pokémon games I’m sure
Ocarina of Time

I mean at this point I’m just listing games you should be required to play before posting here

To me they were mostly PS2 and PC games

God of war 2
RE4
GTA Vice City
Manhunt
Okami
Call of Juarez gunslinger
Bioshock

I'll take 'essential' to mean something I'd recommend people not familiar with games at all to play, to show them that the medium is worth being interested in, so a lot of these will be quite accessible and not super old
>Ico
>SotC
>Metroid Prime
>RE4
>Portal
>Demon's Souls
>Ghost Trick
>Hollow Knight
>nu-Doom, not the best FPS but it's a good power fantasy
>Plants vs Zombies, for game design elegance, probably best for absolute beginners
>Yoshi's Island
>Planescape
>WarioWare Inc
>Ocarina of Time
>original God of War, for spectacle mostly
>Rocket League unironically, just a good example of low skill ceiling high skill floor
>Hyper Demon, because there's nothing else like it and it feels like opening a 3rd eye

Tetris
Age of Empires II
Minecraft
Doom II
TES V
The Sims 2
F.E.A.R.
Super Mario Bros. 3
Simcity 4
Okami

Warcraft 3
Neverwinter Nights
San Andreas
Max Payne 1-2
Half-Life 1-2
KotOR
DAO
BG3
KF1
Fallout 3-FNV
Serious Sam 1-SE
Titan Quest
Stardew Valley
Crimsonland
Worms
Tekken 3
Samurai Warriors 2

Ocarina of time
Doom
Hybrid Heaven
Ridge Racer Revolution
Super mario bros 3 or world
Final Fantasy V
Metal Gear Solid
Wii sports
Super C
Metal Slug 5
Guitar Hero 2
Demon's souls/Dark Souls
Goldeneye 007
mario party 3
Links 386 OR mario toadstool tour
system shock 1
ultima underworld
old school runescape
Wow Classic
Mario Kart DS
star wars battlefront 1 or 2
Tomb Raider 1
papers please
undertale
barony
baldurs gate 3
diablo II
sin and punishment
Star Fox 64
pokemon Snap
Pokemon blue(151 mod)
RE2 remake
super mario 64
Donkey Kong Country 2
Girls Garden
Bimini Run
Racing Lagoon
Crash 2
Tales of Phantasia
Link to the Past
GTA San Andreas
Minecraft
Halo 2
Quake III
Brain Age
Animal Crossing Wild World
Castlevania III
Castlevania AoS
Red Dead Redemption 2
Tetris(GB)(even though DS is better)
worms world party
starcraft
Batman Arkham Asylum
Euro Truck Simulator 2
Metroid
Super Metroid
Lego Island
Outrun(sega ages)

these are all genre defining or the peak of their series. Debate me if you want but I know Im right

PlayStation 2 and super nintendo

I define essential as "vidya that made a lasting impact on the industry" or "gorillions of normalgays played this for a reason". By that criteria:
Skyrim
Minecraft
Half Life
Halo CE
Doom 1 and 2
Tetris

As for games I personally would put in a "play before you die" list:
VTMB
Deus Ex
F.E.A.R
Max Payne
Half Life 1 and 2
Alien Isolation
Dragon Age Origins
Far Cry 2
Gothic 1 and 2

Super Mario Bros 3, World, or Donkey Kong country
Super Mario 64
Final Fantasy 6 or 7
Resident evil 4
Resident evil 1, 2, or 3
DOOM 1, 2, or 64. Frick Nu-DOOM
Mario Kart double dash or 64
Wario Land 4
Super Metroid, Aria of Sorrow or Symphony of the Night
Dark Souls 1
Halo 1, 2, 3, but only for the local multiplayer with a bunch of screaming nerds, snacks, and beers. It's hard to surpass as a multiplayer experience.
Smash Bros 64, Melee, or Ultimate
Street fighter 2 or Killer instinct
Ocarina of time or Link to the past
Turtles in TIme
Dig-Dug
Mappy
Any Bomberman game, but the N64 games and Saturn are the best
Ms Pac Man (The NES Tengen version is kino)
Yoshi's Island
Any of the first 7 Megaman games, or the first four Megaman X games
Any version of Tetris or Dr. Mario
Mario Party 1, 2, or 3
Starcraft or Command and Conquer
Worms Armageddon
Contra 1, Super, 3 SNES, or 3 Genesis
Portal 1 or 2
Donkey Kong or Donkey Kong Jr
Frogger
Star Fox 64 or Panzer Dragoon
Space Cadet Pinball
Plants vs Zombies
Playing any of the 10 I would consider an intro to video games, I expect someone who calls themselves a gamer to have at least played 20, and playing 30 or more I'd say could be called a seasoned gamer

doom shareware
Half life 1
gmod
Stalker SOC
halo ce

FPS games specifically

Outer Wilds
Portal
Bioshock
Hollow Knight
Bayonetta
Final Fantasy XII
Sekiro

Can't be arsed to think of more.Kinda sad after all this time spent playing.

This would be my list of games that mean the most to me