By on 30 Jan, 2012 at 1:15 PM
7,334 Views | 61 Comments

5 Games We’ll Remember In 20 Years

 

2. The Witcher 2: Assassins Of Kings

The Witcher 2 represents something special. The game is a masterpiece. Given the work being done post-launch and the upcoming Xbox version, the future looks bright for the series.

If there is one detractor it is that the game does have some reliance on its predecessor for information. However, it is possible to play The Witcher 2 without a problem.

The game possesses graphical artistry that is jaw dropping. The world and the characters are more real than you’re expecting to experience. The writing and acting are both so good you’ll forget these people don’t exist. The game itself is unrivalled in quality.

A dark and sober fantasy RPG , the game takes player choice to a whole new level. Every choice has such real consequences that you will find it hard to believe you could have done something different. Discussing the game with a friend or family member is an incredulous experience.

“What do you mean you aligned with X and killed Y? I did the opposite and ended up with a whole different group of characters for half the game.”

“Wait, so you never even saw the military camp? You were on the defending side? How is that possible, that’s a completely different game.”

Select lines, with the language cleaned up a bit, from a conversation with my brother.

The filming and storyline are so tastefully and skilfully done that actual experiences watching big budget blockbusters impress me less.

 
 
 

1. Bastion

Bastion is perhaps my favourite game in recent memory. I do not say that lightly or with flippancy or exaggeration. It does not steal from the quality or importance of the other entries, but Bastion stands as a work of art.

The game is hand painted. Every piece of animation or artwork is a colourful masterpiece. The gameplay is tight, fun and challenging.

Then there is the narrator and the world. Bastion’s “hook” is that there is a man with a deep, creamy voice narrating the story as you play. The writing is phenominal and the storyline is comparable to Bioshock and Mass Effect.

The game is cheap. It is relatively short and if the world was just children would be forced to play this game to teach them about loss, perseverance, fighting for a cause, kindness, friendship, trust and forgiveness.

Every few years, no matter how old, serious or cold-hearted and deadened I get, I will play through Bastion again to remind me that there is beauty and hope in the world.

 
 

There are many games that are good, great even. It is a testament to the quality of the gaming industry that making a list of just five classics is a difficult task.

Not everyone can be the best and not everything will be remembered by history.

These five, amongst others, will be because of the completeness of their experiences and the fact that they stick with you long after you stop playing.

They expand your mind, open your eyes and make you a better person while having fun in the process.

Page 1

Page 2

RELATED CONTENT

Name: Jake Woolf
Location: Cape Town
Position: Author, Features

Jake has published 14 posts. Read all of Jake's posts.
  • sage of the six paths

    Nice article but I think the title isn’t quite right since it kinda makes it seem as if you’re projecting your thoughts onto those reading the article.

    Personally I would’ve had The first Deus Ex instead of Human Revolution and I would’ve also added Half-Life and Portal somewhere in there, and also Bioshock 1. And Hitman: Blood Money.

    • http://egamer.co.za Dean Oberholzer

      What’s the title meant to do? :P

    • http://www.eGamer.co.za/ Jake

      You didn’t really read the article did you?

      “To make things more interesting we’re also trying to stick to newer games. Bioshock, Call of Duty 4 and Half Life 2 are already classics in their own right so we’re not going to suck them off again.”

      Also projecting my thoughts onto those reading the article is pretty much the definition of writing.

      I think I know what you’re getting at though. I did say that these are just 5 of the classics out there. They are by no means the only ones.

    • http://twitter.com/Weeman360 Pienaar Anker

      replace it with portal 2 then

    • sage of the six paths

      Nope, didn’t read it. Saw the title, saw the games in the list and wrote my opinion.

    • sage of the six paths

      OK, now I’ve read the article. But my opinions are still the same. When you mention only recent titles it kinda feels like you mean in the past year or 2, personally I would’ve preferred all the games within the current gen to be allowed on that list.

    • Timothy

      Dude, firstly, congrats on your 1st eGamer article; it’ll definitely make an auspicious Timothy Day. Secondly, the best part of a list is to wait until everyone voices their opinion and then you tell them they’re all wrong and just don’t know it yet, but like secretively so the plebs don’t realise it.

      …. Ugh, I mean the wonderful eGamer community :b

      Anyway, and though I would’ve had a few different games on it, I enjoyed the list just the same.

    • http://twitter.com/Weeman360 Pienaar Anker

      Completely agree

    • http://www.eGamer.co.za/ Jake

      If I was limited to more recent games then Bioshock, the original Deus Ex and Blood Money all don’t qualify. They’re great games but the criteria was for modern games.

      Also we’ll be doing an article about 5 Popular Games That Won’t Be Remembered. Portal 2 will be on that list and I’ll explain myself fully then.

      Not saying I’m right but I’ll be explaining myself properly there. At least collect some serious hatred in preparation, or come with an open mind. :)

    • http://www.eGamer.co.za/ Jake

      That’s fair enough but I thought that if I didn’t limit choice to only in the last year or so it would be too boring. I would just end up listing the most acclaimed games of the generation – reasonably common knowledge.

      At least this way you get to see my feelings on firstly recent stuff and secondly games you may not have had a chance to play yet.

      I get bored of reading lists with the same games on them. There are only a finite number of truly spectacular games for any given generation and the games mentioned are generally the same.

      Here I could try give something different.

      Maybe next time I’ll open it up more since yours is a fair criticism. :)

    • http://egamer.co.za Dean Oberholzer

      Yes @e008af6d1e4e1d2e8a8b0f1a241dc195:disqus .. See! Now stop being difficult, dammit! :-)

    • sage of the six paths

      @deanoberholzer:disqus I’ll stop being difficult when you say my name correctly :P.
      @JakeWoolf:disqus  Fair enough.

    • JamieRamsamy

      Yeah the first Deus Ex was legendary.  I remember buying PC Format just to get a chance to play the demo.  Then, got the full game and it was AMAZING.  Game changer (excuse the pun)

  • Donovan

    I find it surprising that bastion makes the list but not Limbo…. It could be argued that limbo marked the beginning of arcade titles moving away from mindless fun and into the realm of sudo art. Whilst bastion relied on a narrative gimmick. But whatevz :D

    • http://www.eGamer.co.za/ Jake

      Limbo was very stark and lonely and was a less complete experience to me. It was excellent but very one tone.

      By comparison Bastion had a rich world and story along with awesome music, gameplay and voice acting.

      Also if you want the start of arcade titles moving towards art it would be Braid not Limbo.

      Just personal preference I guess :)

    • Timothy

      Limbo is for people who like Simple Plan

    • Donovan

      I never liked Braid, seemed drenched in pretension. But then again that’s what most art boils down to, pretension. I guess I played limbo at a time in my life where any game would have had emotional resonance.

  • http://twitter.com/Weeman360 Pienaar Anker

    if the world ends on 21/12/2012 the last game people will think of is Assassins creed (well, those who played it and paid attention at least)

    • http://www.eGamer.co.za/ Jake

      :D

    • Anonymous

      That made me shudder, why?

      Get your shit together, Ubisoft!

  • Anonymous

    Mostly agree, bastion and The Witcher 2 where/are good games. Didn’t play the rest :3 except a bit of ME >_> wasn’t that great tho

    • http://www.eGamer.co.za/ Jake

      If you played the original ME on Xbox I understand :P

      I played all on PC and loved them. Guess they’re just my type of game.

    • Anonymous

      Look it wasn’t bad, just got over it at some point. Also, fucking elevators

    • http://www.eGamer.co.za/ Jake

      It certainly wasn’t as tight as ME 2 or other games in the genre.

      I was in the right head space when it came out so I immersed myself fully. Now I love it.

      We love what we know.

    • http://www.facebook.com/brendon.bosch Brendon Bosch

       I can understand why ME didnt appeal to you. Most people who played ME1 didnt like it and got bored of it, myself included. I did however decide to finish it 3 months after getting it because i didnt want to waste my money. After 5 playthroughs and adding ME2 to the list i can comfortably say that the key to enjoying the game is by finishing it. ME2 just exudes gamer satisfaction and ME3 will blow us all away. So kluch do yourself a favour and one day drudge through those things that you didnt like in ME1 like i did and you will find a gem that you didnt think was there.

      I have managed to get a whole group of my friends to play this and they loved it and now we are all buying ME3. I`m glad i got hold of ME1 because the series is my favorite to date.

      Your choice though (see what i did there)

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Haig-Harold-Tait/1231233033 Haig Harold Tait

    What about games like Heavy Rain that gripped the gamer from the word GO?

    • sage of the six paths

      Make your own list and put Heavy Rain on it, maybe I should do the same. :)

    • http://www.eGamer.co.za/ Jake

      Heavy Rain is a very good point. I had it shortlisted but in the end settled on these five because I felt they were more complete packages and better value for money.

      Also I feel that Heavy Rain was a prototype for a game more than a complete package. It was amazing and I’d wager that Quantic Dream’s next game will probably make my list when it releases.

      From Indigo Prophecy to Heavy Rain, they keep getting better but they’re not quite there yet.
      I know that sounds like heresy since I too loved Heavy Rain but the games listed here are certainly full of beans and deserve your attention too.

      Another time and place, Heavy Rain may have been included.

    • Anonymous

      Personally, Heavy Rain was a very complete experience and one only a handful of games that had me literally on the edge of my seat. For me, it heralded a whole new dimension of immersion.

  • GaskooN

    BATMAN YOU NOOBS!

    • http://www.eGamer.co.za/ Jake

      Come back Friday, 5 Popular Games That Wont Be Remembered. I will explain there.

      You can right me off as a hack then :D

    • Anonymous

      Arkham Asylum could’ve made the list since it raised the bar way higher for its subgenre but ultimately this is a column i.e. opinionated piece of writing and unless Cavie’s writing it, the writer is entitled to his/her/it’s opinions.

  • Timothy

    Dude, firstly, congrats on your 1st eGamer article; it’ll definitely
    make an auspicious Timothy Day. Secondly, the best part of a list is to
    wait until everyone voices their opinion and then you tell them they’re
    all wrong and just don’t know it yet, but like secretively so the plebs
    don’t realise it.

    …. Ugh, I mean the wonderful eGamer community :b

    Anyway, and though I would’ve had a few different games on it, I enjoyed the list just the same.

    • http://www.eGamer.co.za/ Jake

      You’re very kind Lord Tim. And on Timothy day as well? What a monarch.

      They may be plebs, but they’re MY plebs. Freckles, warts, extra limbs, red hair and all. :D

      Here’s to many more wonderful debates where people slowly realise I’m right about everything, ever.

    • Timothy

      Unless I say anything, then you become wrong and I become right.

      Know the mighty Tim and let him enlighten you

    • http://www.eGamer.co.za/ Jake

      We’ve been over this, we just have to always agree. Otherwise we’ll force the world to take sides thus starting world war 3 and the apocalypse.

      All because we disagreed.

    • sage of the six paths

      Now all I have to do is think of a question neither of you can agree on. :D

    • Anonymous

      Hint: make it about Adam or Final Fantasy :P

  • No

    Dota

    • Anonymous

      Just like your name, no.

    • http://www.eGamer.co.za/ Jake

      Hahaha. So eloquent. :D

  • http://www.facebook.com/nadine.franzsen Nadine Franzsen

    I will always remember Red Dead Redemption, because it is in a setting which we don’t see often in games and it will always stand out as that western game I used to play when I was in my twenties. 

  • Alessandro Barbosa

    Fantastic list, and I’m glad someone agrees with me about Uncharted 2 :-) However, I would’ve replaced Bastion with either Portal or Limbo, mainly because I prefer both of them to Bastion. Still an awesome game, but that creepy boy in Limbo will never leave my memory :P

    Kudos on the great first article, can’t wait for many more like it:P

    P.S: I find you lack of Rayman: Origins love disturbing :P

    • Anonymous

      I must concur with the Captain here, except regarding Rayman Origins, there’s some twisted love dovey shit going on there.

  • SairenSA

    I’m sorry. According this list I will remember the least in 20 years. A la no consolas.

  • Anonymous

    2/5 is a pathetic fail so I’m going to get to work on playing those other three (five). I do think that Portal 2 should be in ahead of Bastion given that it was such a memorable and solid experience and that Arkham Asylum deserved consideration for what it was and did for its subgenre.

    That said, this is your column so I’m not going to argue but the above is just what I think. I do agree with a lot of what you said and the way you said though.

    This was a fantastic first column and I can’t wait to read more from the Woolfe Man (it’s best to get this out of the way now, before Jake becomes famous for having apprehended the Manic Spud).  Congrats, son.

    I like your approach of only choosing from recent-ish games since parameters and tight confines always breed creativity except in the case of early 40′s Jews.

    PS: I read all 40+ comments, gimme a fucking medal, please.

    • Timothy

      And a merry Timmas to all, potato

    • Anonymous

      Potato and to all a Merry Timmas.

      We really should save this for a meeting but could we revise Timmas to be an 8-day holiday where each day is devoted to a different gaming genre and type of potato respectively and people rejoice by pelting each other with coloured mash.
      Timmas TV specials will include all those soft-core porn films you used to enjoy on eTV, the Life & Times of Time (search it!) and of course 8 days should be plenty of time to air all of LOST and/or Grey’s Anatomy.

      Of course, everybody must also wear the ceremonial burlap sack in remembrance of Tim’s victory against the mighty Manic Spud.

    • http://www.eGamer.co.za/ Jake

      I’ll give you the key to Tim’s chastity belt – the highest honour in the land of Potatopolis :D

    • http://egamer.co.za/ Azhar Amien

      I should kill you all for abusing Potato’s name like this. Rip your spleens from your insides, and use a chainsaw for precision cutting on your brains.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000860995571 Johnny Kratos Davidson

    The only one of those 5 that will even have a chance of being remembered in 20 years is the Mass Effect trilogy. 

    God of War should be on the list or at least mentioned for the reasons that it’s one of the most critically acclaimed franchises of all time, leads the genre in terms of sales and critical acclaim significantly, has spawned more clones or inspired more games than anything else and finally it has A LOT more fans than all 5 games listed above, going by how many fans each of those games have on their largest Facebook fan-pages, God of War has more than all 5 combined!… This means it’s far less likely to be forgotten because at the end of the day it’s mostly the fans that will remember these games in 20 years, the more fans there is, the more likely some will still be around in 20 years to reminisce in the games they once loved. 

    I’d say the list should be more like this, going by the most amount of fans on Facebook fan-pages:
    1. Call of Duty (Black ops) = 11,229,935
    2. Halo = 3,345,315
    3. Assassins Creed = 2,735,303
    4. God of War = 1,822,637
    5. Gears of War – 1,778,950

    That’s a much more realistic list of games/franchises that won’t be forgotten in 20 years, although I respect your list as it’s your opinion. :)

    • Cloud Strife

      Black ops will be remembered…but for all the wrong reasons..

    • Anonymous

      I sincerely disagree. What you’re doing is going on popularity which is like saying that we will remember artists like Katy Perry or movies like TRON: Legacy because they sold well and were popular. A classic takes more than that.

      I love GoW and AC. I really enjoyed Black Ops and the little that I’ve played of Gears and Halo but they are simply great games. Perhaps GoW could’ve been up there but that’s a matter of preference in the same way that Limbo or Portal 2 could have trumped Bastion.

      The games Jake has listed, while I don’t completely agree with all of them, represent genre leaders and games that are the complete package as far as what they can deliver is concerned. If you’re talking AC as a series for example, it is hampered by spammed sequels like Brotherhood and Revelations.

      This is your opinion and I respect that, I just think your approach isn’t ideal when deciding which games will become classics. As an example, Star Wars Episode IV or V released to dismal box office sales yet today it is one of the all-time cinema classics.

    • http://www.eGamer.co.za/ Jake

      I want to make love to your comment.

      Passionate, gentle love.

    • Anonymous

      Well I’m sorry but my comment is actually looking to settle down with a nice successful forum thread and you deflowering her would just ruin everything.

      I hope it’s worth it, homewrecker.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Haig-Harold-Tait/1231233033 Haig Harold Tait

    remember remember… the 5th

  • James

    You can replace Uncharted 2 with a lot of better games. E.G. Portal 2. While U2 was the best of the series. The series itself is totally forgettable after having played the third instalment.

    • http://www.eGamer.co.za/ Jake

      I respect that many people think Uncharted 2 and Bastion should be replaced but I stand by my choice.

      I will be releasing another article on Friday. 5 Popular Game No One Will Remember. Portal 2 is on that list – I know its a weird choice but read my article on Friday, after which I will gladly take your hatred if you believe my point isn’t fair.

      Just bare in mind that memorable and goodness are two different things. Every game on Friday’s list is a spectacular game which is deliriously fun to play but that doesn’t mean we’ll remember it.

      Stay tuned. In the meantime start thinking about all the names you want to call me.

      I do know and respect that my choices won’t be for everyone, here or in anything I write :)

  • Anonymous

    Really surprised Portal isnt in there… And God Of War… All time favourite… 

  • http://egamer.co.za/ Azhar Amien

    Great list, I think it’s just lacking Portal :P

  • wayne savy

    Best 5 games ever!!