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Top 10 Genre-Busting Video Games

Top 10 Genre-Busting Video Games

Sometimes a game comes out that’s so good, it practically defines the genre it lives in. That could mean anything, from redefining or solidifying something that already existed in some form, to creating a new genre entirely. These are games that blew people away from day one, and inspired not only players, but other people who made games in similar spaces.let’s talk about ten games I think have had the most genre impact, and then you all can roast me in the comments for not including Dark Souls or something.

Halo: Combat Evolved

Halo: Combat Evolved

Sure, Halo didn’t invent shooters, nor did shooters become more popular overall as a result of it. Shooters are the most ubiquitous game genre for a reason. But what Halo did was define what it meant to be a shooter on a console. The speed, the physics, the mechanics, even the UI – all of these elements were so well-done by Bungie that games today still tune their games based on Halo . That’s pretty impressive.

Grand Theft Auto 3

Grand Theft Auto 3

I didn’t really know what an open world game was before I played Grand Theft Auto 3 . The idea that a game could just be a giant sandbox to run around in, despite or in spite of the story’s objectives, was totally foreign to me. Now it’s totally banal and mundane, but that’s directly related to the meteoric impact of Grand Theft Auto 3 . AAA gaming owes almost everything to this one.

The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind

The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind

The Elder Scolls as a series is what relaly prompted gamers who care a lot about genre to coin the term “WRPG,” or rather take “JRPG” and swap the “J” with a “W.” And the real tip of the spear for that categorization was Morrowind , thanks to its place on the timeline and its presence on the Xbox. Morrowind took the open world thing, expanded it several fold, and moved it into the much nerdier swords and sorcery territory. Basically, this game ruined lives in ways no other game could at the time, and people only demanded more.

StarCraft

StarCraft

Due to how seldom they appear on consoles, strategy games have always had a turbulent reputation. Many classic series often feel obscure in comparison to the really big stuff. But Blizzard’s precense in the market changed that, and StarCraft is an international phenomenon. If it wasn’t for games like StarCraft , we probably wouldn’t have esports the way we do now.

Final Fantasy VII

Final Fantasy VII

Just like The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind set the table for what we think of today as a Western RPG, Final Fantasy VII brought the Japanese RPG into the limelight. Sure, it’s not even the best JRPG you could play and games that came before it are arguably more historically important, but Final Fantasy VII is the standard to which nearly every JRPG that has come after it is held. So many bigger-budget JRPG games are the way they are because of the success and cultural fixation on this game.

Devil May Cry

Devil May Cry

Devil May Cry flipped the script, altering forever the words “action game.” This game wasn’t just a “hack and slash,” it was an opressively harsh experience that gave you strict rules to abide by and judged you harshly for trying to break them. It wasn’t afriad to kill you and make you learn, but it also rewarded you handsomely for cracking the code. Games like Ninja Gaiden and God of War owe everything to Devil May Cry .

PUBG

PUBG

Here’s a game that’s barely out of the oven. While PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds didn’t invent the battle royale style game, it for sure popularized it. And my popularized, I mean it took the human race for ransom. Never before has something new appeared and immediately taken over the everything than with PUBG . Now of course it’s locked in an “epic” battle with Fortnite , but that never would have happened without headline after headline of PUBG dollar-making.

Uncharted 2

Uncharted 2

I think of Uncharted as an “adventure” game, or perhaps “action/adventure.” It’s that weird blend of shooting, platforming, driving, talking, so on and so forth. Uncharted 2 was the ultimate game in this emergent genre, so much so that the copycats have been endless, and AAA action/adventure games are all the better for it. Thanks to Naughty Dog and Sony’s nigh-endless coffers, we almost never have to wait long for the next interactive, Indiana Jones -style experience, even if sometimes it’s horrible and depressing like The Last of Us .

Resident Evil

Resident Evil

The great discourse is always that while Resident Evil is credited with the birth of survival horror, Alone in the Dark is the true origin. Then the true nerds get into stuff like Sweet Home and things get real complicated real fast. But the important part of all that is Resident Evil is a historic, legendary, and scary-ass video game. The moment those mansion doors creep open, right in your face, you know you’re in for something special. The ” REmake ” on Gamecube (and now PS4/PC/Xbox One) makes the whole experience even better, and visually brilliant.

Super Mario Kart

Super Mario Kart

Super Mario Kart was the first racing game with splitscreen multiplayer. That should be enough right there, honestly, but with the wacky kart physics, colorful characters, goofy items, and yeah the dang splitscreen, Super Mario Kart is basically the origin point of decades of absolute madness. Every story you hear about drunken cart-racing shenanigans in dorm rooms (and sometimes real streets) can all be traced back to the SNES and its experimental, new technoogy.

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