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The 21st Century has been some of the greatest years for gaming. There haven't just been great games in this new century, though. There have been some massively impactful ones, too. There are projects in the 21st Century that have completely changed gaming for the better and more than deserve their roses.
No matter the genre, play style, or visual fidelity of these titles, they genuinely have had a massive impact on the video game industry in some way, shape, or form. SOMETHING HERE.
'Batman: Arkham City' (2011)
The Batman: Arkham Asylum franchise is one of the most critically acclaimed superhero video game franchises of all time. While the first game set the standard for superhero games moving forward, the sequel, Batman: Arkham City, decided to step it up and revolutionize the genre completely. Everything that made the first game good is present here—evolved, improved, and added onto.
Batman: Arkham City not only has some of the best combat mechanics in the 2010s, awesome open world traversal, a living and breathing map of Gotham City, and a story that is actually phenomenal. With the game script written by Paul Dini, Paul Crocker, Sefton Hill, and Frank Miller, the game became one of the best Batman stories ever told in many people's opinions.
'Fortnite' (2017)
Whether one loves or hates it, Fortnite caused a gigantic ripple throughout the shooter game space when it initially dropped. With new building mechanics getting introduced into a third-person shooter title, Fortnite was unlike anything anyone had seen before. This attracted a gigantic player base that's still standing relatively strong to this day.
Fortnite has also become quite famous for the many collaborations it gains to introduce new skins into the game. On that note, the way players can customize their character also helps keep them invested. Finally, this title, despite being a massive multiplayer battle royal experience, has lore. Via in-game events, trailers, and promotional material, Fortnite has an ongoing story throughout every season of the game to this very day.
'Red Dead Redemption 2' (2018)
The makers of the Grand Theft Auto franchise don't just create games like that set in the modern day—no, they also bring the era of the Wild Wild West to life, too. Despite their most popular franchise being Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption 2 is easily one of Rockstar Games' most popular projects of all time. By this time, the last title in their other franchise, Grand Theft Auto V, was released all the way back in 2013, so they had numerous years to improve on where they could have for the second Red Dead Redemption game.
This sequel title re-innovated the way open world games were made, and continued to prove—as Rockstar Games always has—that single-player video games can be top dogs, even in an era of multiplayer-only success. The game also adapts to react to the player's choices in real time. It's also got an incredibly emotional story that was very well-written by the team at Rockstar Games—potentially being one of their best game stories yet.
'League of Legends' (2009)
Since it's first release in 2009, League of Legends has been known as one of the most popular video games of all time. It's one of the only major video game titles to be genuinely free-to-play, removing the barrier to entry exponentially. All of this has led to it having one of the largest multiplayer player bases of all time, with it being reported in 2018 that the game had an active player base of 111 million players. Its popularity spawned the abundantly popular television show, Arcane, also.
Most importantly, though, the team behind League of Legends, Riot Games, used this to build an esports system unlike any other. The game's popularity allowed them to fund studio leagues, creating genuine gaming careers for many. It's gotten to the point where League of Legends now fills entire sports arenas for the annual League of Legends World Championship. This title has helped redefine the game space as a whole.
'Dark Souls' (2011)
This release spawned the idea of "Souls-like" video games, and that's not just because of popularity. The way that this project was brought to life changed the way difficulty is approached in gaming. When Dark Souls dropped in 2011, players began to experience that iconic Souls-like challenge—some of the toughest challenges in video games, but fair.
That's what sets Dark Souls (and its sequels/inspired games to come after) apart. Developers FromSoftware Inc. made the game abundantly difficult, but not in an unfair way. It's more than possible to take on the hardest challenges in this title, but it takes practice, precision, leveling up, and patience. It rewards trial and error, as it does not tell the gamers how to beat a boss, leaving them to figure it out on their own. This revolutionized how many games that came after approached making difficult projects.
'The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim' (2011)
Video game players love it when they're given freedom to traverse a world, grow their character, build relationships, and take on enemies as they see fit. That's where the appeal for a lot of open world titles comes from, but none have ever come even remotely close to matching that of the one and only The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim—the gold standard for open world RPGs (role-playing games).
This game is memorable because of the plethora of freedom it gives the player. Anyone holding a controller can make their own identity, character build, power set, relationships, and can explore literally any part of the entire world from the very moment they get started post-opening. On top of this, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has one of the most well-built game worlds of all time, with every single NPC (non-payable character) having a schedule they spend their days doing, each corner having completely random interactions, and more. There's a reason that people still play and adore this game 15 years later—freedom equals replayability.
'World of Warcraft' (2004)
Before Blizzard Entertainment made their massive hit, Overwatch, they created one of the most popular and recognizable video games ever made: World of Warcraft. This Blizzard title was one of the first major massively online multiplayer experiences to hit the kind of popularity that it did. This product has been referenced numerous times in media like movies and television, and continues to be a centerpiece of "nerd culture".
World of Warcraft was a borderline fantasy social network when it released, and that popularity helped it become as memorable as it is today. Not to forget, this project popularized mechanics that are now in almost all major video game releases: quest markers, complex level-up systems, and the concept of daily missions for XP.
'Wii Sports' (2006)
The Nintendo Wii, to this day, remains as one of the largest and most memorable and large video game console drops of all time. This means, that the game that launched with it—not to be bought separately, no, but came with the console as a standard purchase—was going to be just as popular. That game is Wii Sports and truly redefined family gaming for all time.
What makes the pairing of Wii Sports and the Nintendo Wii so important is the way that it made video gaming an affair for the entire family, unlike any console to come before. The game paired with this Nintendo system made playing games easy, simple, and fun for veteran gamers and newbies alike. Wii Sports honestly helped bring families together.
'Grand Theft Auto V' (2013)
The likes of Grand Theft Auto VI is projected to be one of the largest video game drops of all time as the release date nears. This isn't for no reason, though. It had to already be pretty highly anticipated before it was even announced. How is that possible? Well, it's all thanks to the legendary game to come before: Grand Theft Auto V.
This fifth entry in the Grand Theft Auto franchise continues to be one of the most popular games on the market. With multiple editions released over the years, a super well-executed story mode, cinematic storytelling, and a very dedicated online player base, Grand Theft Auto V helped evolve the open world corner of gaming beyond what anyone expected.
'Minecraft' (2009)
Minecraft. Oh, what can be said about Minecraft that hasn't been said time and time again? There's no denying that this blocky title has become one of the most popular video games ever made. One would be pretty much living under a rock if they'd not heard of Minecraft by this point. It. Is. Everywhere.
This game isn't just some video game, at this point. It's become a worldwide phenomenon—a movement. It's a game that doesn't have an age range, a specific genre (unless one counts sandbox as a hard-set genre), or any limits for that matter. Anyone can play and love Minecraft and that makes it easily one of the most accessible video games ever created.
